ISLAMABAD    -   The rumour mill, in the country’s po­litical scenario, is spinning nowadays without any break. The political de­velopments undoubtedly help ‘build­ing and damaging’ the popularity graph of main political players.

The Shehbaz-led government, after taking the reins, has been witnessing back-to-back setbacks due to inflation. The embattled government was badly engaged in resolving the price-hike issue when the climatic crisis ‘all of a sudden’ emerged as a big challenge. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, af­ter leaving parliamentary politics, has not spared a day criticising the present government on multiple matters. 

The demand of fresh polls with threats of a long march has remained a regular feature in each public meet­ing of PTI’s chief. The revelation of au­dio leaks has seemingly creating trou­bles for both PTI and the government, as many audio tapes may also surface in the days to come. In this scenario, a rumour is also making rounds that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has to take ‘vote of confidence’ as some of the coalition partners are not ready to stand by treasury benches.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, after voting out the PTI chief Imran Khan, has comfortably secured 174 votes in the National Assembly to get the title of leader of the house in the National Assembly. The PTI chief, with his 131 MNAs, opted to tender resignations from the Parliament. This political move, the political gurus viewed, has proved ‘a great help’ for the incum­bent government to easily do legisla­tive business in the Parliament.

The present government, after suc­cessfully getting a tranche from the IMF, has felt itself confident of escaping from the threat of default. The devas­tating floods that swept away homes, crops, bridges, roads and livestock have pushed the country to appeal for $30 billion from the international com­munity. The ruling clique has raised its voice at the United Nations (UN) plat­form and is getting positive response. The political and constitutional ex­perts believed that the present govern­ment is now getting strength with each passing day on different fronts. “Presi­dent has no intention to ask the Prime Minister to take a vote of confidence at this stage,” they said, adding that the President is currently making efforts for reconciliation on some of the mat­ters between PTI and the PDM.

They believed that the Prime Min­ister had the full support of its allies in the Parliament to thwart any move against the government. The motion for vote of confidence, according to the constitution, can be moved after the gap of six months so the opposition will avoid putting the Prime Minister in hot water at this juncture. Political sources said that the PTI lawmakers if intend to rejoin the Parliament then they might mull using this card at any stage. “It depends upon the PTI to re­join the National Assembly and move a motion against the Prime Minister,” they said. The en-masse resignations submitted by the PTI MNAs, over five months ago, have created a difficult situation for its political opponents currently enjoying treasury benches