ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Friday threw down the gauntlet to opposition parties, saying that if they wanted to unseat Syed Khursheed Shah, they should come up with the required numbers.

“The parties that supported our opposition leader are still supporting us. We do not fear any democratically-adopted procedure to change the leader of the opposition, but those who want to replace Khursheed Shah must show their numbers,” Qamar Zaman Kaira told reporters following a meeting at the Zardari House.

Accompanied by former Senate chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari and Chaudhary Manzoor Ahmed, the PPP leader said the Muttahida Qaumi Movement recently voted for the prime minister, and now they were vying for a new leader of the opposition. “We shall see if this is their own initiative or whether there is a hidden hand behind it,” he said.

Kaira says all parties that supported Khursheed Shah still back him as leader of the opposition

The leaders were speaking to the media following a meeting between Mr Shah and party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari at the Zardari House.

The two men discussed the appointment of a new NAB chairman, and the opposition leader in the National Assembly apprised Mr Zardari about the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s manoeuvring over the leader of the opposition’s slot.

Talking about the consultations regarding the appointment of a new NAB chairman, Mr Kaira said that no particular name had been discussed by the party leadership.

In addition, the meeting at the Zardari House also entrusted a fact-finding committee with inquiring into the circumstances of the PPP’s defeat in the NA-120 by-election in Lahore.

The committee, which consists of Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, Senator Farhatullah Babar and Senator Maula Bakhsh Chandio, will meet in Lahore on Oct 3. The PPP was humiliated in the NA-120 by-poll and independent candidates backed by religious outfits secured more votes than the PPP candidate.

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2017