Lahore/RAWALPINDI - Responding to the statement of Ayaz Sadiq that the Assembly may not complete its term, Awami Muslim League head Sheikh Rashid has said that there will be a quick march before the month of March next year.
Sheikh Rashid said that the Speaker of National Assembly has finally started speaking the truth, adding, that he has finally realised the facts. “I said it long ago and they’re getting it now. The tenure of these leaders has ended,” he added.
He criticised the government over the issues of FATA reforms and devaluation of the rupees in comparison with dollar.
Meanwhile, two major Opposition parties, the PPP and the PTI have reacted differently to the statement by National Assembly speaker.
PPP believes that Assemblies would complete their term and elections would be held on time. PTI, on the other hand, thinks that NA speaker has infact vindicated its stance on early elections.
Reacting to the statement, veteran PPP leader Senator Aitzaz Ahsan said that Army was not conspiring against the PML-N government.
“They are even getting a favourable treatment from the judiciary also”, he added.
Aitzaz alleged that it had become a trait in the PML-N that its leaders would blame the hidden hands for every weird thing which happened to them.
They are in the habit of keeping the matters ambiguous by not speaking openly about the alleged conspiracies, he said.
Talking to the media persons at Lahore High Court, Aitzaz hoped that all issues hindering timely elections would be sorted out soon.
Senior PTI leader Aleem Khan, who lost a by-election to Ayaz Sadiq by a narrow margin in October 2015, said that it had been a stated position of his party that PML-N government will collapse under its own weight without completing its tenure.
“The inefficient Speaker should have realised the impending danger to the government much earlier”, he said, adding, that the PML-N leadership lacked the ability to foresee the fast changing political scenario in the country. “They can only perceive the reality when it appears before them”,he said. Aleem Khan said that it was strange to note that Speaker seemed helpless before the very Assemblies having majority of the PML-N legislators.
PTI leader affirmed that Speaker’s statement had also vindicated his party’s stance that early elections were the only way out to come out of present situation.
Also, a PTI spokesperson advised the NA speaker to resign from his position in order to eliminate the guilt.
Don’t be afraid. Snap elections are important for democracy,” he said while referring to Sadiq, stressing that he became the custodian of Jati Umra rather than that of the Parliament.
He opined that there is a political vacuum for which the Federal government is limited to the Ministry of Finance.
Fawad Chaudhry claimed that the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs are run by other institutions.
“Those who make big claims in the rallies should remember that the real test is election,” he added.
Ayaz Sadiq had expressed the possibility that the Assembly will not complete its specified term, stating, “I can foresee a greater plan. Maybe some people prefer to resign as they do not want Senate elections to be held in March. This is a depressing situation. I was not this much upset in 2002 during Musharraf’s tenure as I am now.”
He said in an interview that the country will undergo a change but it will not be in its benefit, hoping that the government will complete its term while fearing that the political situation of the country from the past three months shows the opposite.