ISLAMABAD: Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah on Saturday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had divided the opposition in its attempts to remove him from the office.
Addressing reporters, Shah rejected claims that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) takes “solo flight” and does not take the PTI on board on important matters. He said that the PPP government had appointed Justice (r) Fakrukhdin G. Ebrahim as the chief election commissioner on PTI’s advice.
“If the PTI wanted an opposition leader of its choice, they could have asked me, I would have fulfilled their desire. Dividing the opposition is not a wise move,” he said.
Shjah’s criticism of the PTI comes in wake of the party’s attempts to collude with the MQM-P for bringing forward its own opposition leader.
During the meeting in Karachi a few days ago, PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi and MQM-P Chairman Dr Farooq Sattar had expressed dissatisfaction over Shah’s performance as the opposition leader, and mulled over the possibility of replacing Shah, before the caretaker government steps in ahead of 2018 General Elections.
In a statement on Thursday, Shah demanded that PTI should be open about their reasons for wanting to change the opposition leader.
“The people that PTI have gone to for votes have also questioned the party’s decision,” Shah said, adding that PTI leaders talk about democracy but were not willing to accept PPP’s majority.
“PTI leaders are trying to fulfill some other agenda through this move. The matter pertains to PTI’s internal war,” Shah said.