HYDERABAD: Leader of the Oppo­sition in the National Assem­bly Syed Khursheed Shah has said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) does not support Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Tahirul Qadri’s viewpoint for dismissal of the federal government.

He was speaking to reporters at the residence of Munir Randhawa after condoling with him the recent death of his sister on Wednesday. Mr Shah said that PPP had been saying from day one that assemblies must complete their term.

“PPP is cooperating with Tahirul Qadri only on the issue of Model Town tragedy of 2014,” he said, adding that it demanded justice for the innocent people killed in that incident.

The senior PPP leader clarified that the understanding between the PPP and PAT was not an alliance against the federal government or for its dismissal. It’s just a cooperation between the two parties in seeking justice for victims of the Model Town tragedy.

Mr Shah said that PPP had accepted Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as the prime minister but he [Mr Abbasi] himself wanted to launch a movement (Tehreek-i-Adal) against his own government yet PPP was being accused of running a movement against the government. He wondered that the PML-N was hinting at launching an agitation while the president [of Pakistan] and all four governors belonged to the party.

About the Balochistan crisis, he said it was not a matter of surprise because such a situation had emerged there eight months back but the move then could not succeed.

“PPP is being blamed for the Balochistan crisis although it does not have a single member in that assembly,” he said, adding that the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) was an ally of the PML-N but both the allies supported the no-trust motion against the Balochistan chief minister.

“It’s surprising to see that PPP is again being blamed in this matter,” he said.

Nevertheless, Mr Shah said, the Balochistan assembly and CM issues should be seen with democratic spirit as it was a constitutional right of the opposition to move a no-confidence motion.

Commenting on prospects for the Senate election, Khursheed Shah said’ “They can be held even if only one provincial assembly is intact while all others are dissolved”.

At least [Punjab chief minister] Shahbaz Sharif would not get the assembly of that province dissolved, he said.

The opposition leader observed that Nawaz Sharif had been getting aggressive in his stance against the judiciary since his disqualification by the apex court. If such a precedent was set, then anyone punished would start defaming the institution which would be a dangerous trend that could weaken the state, he warned.

“It’s PPP that had saved the parliament otherwise Nawaz Sharif had already surrendered himself previously,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2018