MULTAN, Nov 28: Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the president to immediately call a session of the National Assembly and direct Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali to seek the vote of confidence from the house.

The PPP candidate for the slot of prime minister was speaking at a news conference here on Thursday evening.

He said the Jamali government had lost majority in the house after the withdrawal of support by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

He said the prime minister had secured minimum 172 votes in the National Assembly. “After withdrawal of MQM’s 17 members, the Jamali government has support of only 155 members, including the 10 PPP dissenters. It’s now a minority government in the centre,” he said.

Mr Qureshi said the opposition would have to requisite for the National Assembly session at its own if the government did not convene it.

About the composition of the federal government, the PPP leader said: “it’s a cobbled government, constituted without any ideological base. Only the required sum was collected, exploiting the defection clause.”

Criticizing the postponement of the Sindh Assembly session for an indefinite period, he said those who had the majority were being denied the right to form government while the minor groups were being supported to notch the top slots. This policy would cast a bad impact on the federation.

He said that the PPP would not compromise on the principles of democracy and would play the role of an affective and active opposition. He said the severity of the government’s crisis was evident from the fact that the prime minister had to postpone his scheduled visit to Saudi Arabia.

To a question, he said the international situation did not support the possibility of the imposition of martial law in the country.