Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah on Saturday said that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) are democratically entitled to elect a joint candidate to replace him.
"It is good that MQM and PTI are getting close to each other," he told reporters gathered at his residence in Sukkur on Saturday
A move is under way to replace the opposition leader with PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
The move was spearheaded by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is said to be "quite annoyed” with the PPP over different issues in Karachi — a stronghold of the MQM.
When contacted, Qureshi confirmed the move and said the MQM wanted him to be new opposition leader. He said the Muttahida leaders had called on him and forwarded the proposal to replace Khursheed Shah through a ballot.
'PPP's performance is better than PTI's'
Khursheed nonetheless lashed out at PTI chairman Imran Khan, saying that while he teaches others to respect and obey court orders, "he himself disregards the directions of both the courts and the Election Commission of Pakistan".
He also claimed that the PPP's performance in Sindh had been much better than PTI's in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
No decision on NAB chairman's appointment
Talking about the appointment of a new National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman to replace Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, whose term ends in November, Khursheed Shah said that no decision has been taken yet.
He insisted that both the government and the opposition want to select someone 'competent' for the position.
The PPP leader had met Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at the official residence of National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Wednesday.
However, he reiterated his 'advice' that the government's tenure be reduced to four years instead of five, claiming that all political parties agreed on the proposal.
He also urged the Sharif family and PML-N leadership to accept the court's decision instead of staying in a state of denial.
Khursheed also said that Sardar Latif Khosa will file an appeal in the higher courts against the court's decision on the Benazir Bhutto assassination case within three to four days.
Sindh CM in Sukkur
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, too, criticised the PTI chief on Saturday during a press talk in Sukkur. Murad called Khan a "naive politician" and advised him to learn the "art of politics".
"He will [soon] learn politics like he learnt cricket," Murad quipped.
Talking about the reappointment of Inspector General (IG) A.D. Khowaja, Murad said that though the PPP government was abiding by the verdict of the Sindh High Court, it will soon challenge the court's decision as it has serious reservations over it.
However, he denied there was any political tussle between the IG and the Sindh government.
“We have the democratic right to discuss issues over which we have any reservations,” he said. “This issue was raised by media and the media will take it forward. We have reservations over it and will impugn judgement in apex court as we are consulting legal [counsel] in this regard”, he added.
He claimed that law and order situation in Sindh is better than other provinces and echoed Khursheed Shah by saying that Sindh government was performing better than KPK.
Murad maintained that the provincial government was still clear about the results of the population census.
