ISLAMABAD: The opposition decided on Friday to hold another multiparty conference (MPC) to fine-tune its strategy after the failure of its move to oust Senate Chairman Mohammad Sadiq Sanjrani.

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of anti-government Rahbar Committee, former chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and JUI-F leader Akram Durrani said the date for the MPC would be finalised with consultations.

Mr Durrani said that the Rahbar Committee had asked political parties to find out and punish 14 senators who had either cast their votes in favour of Mr Sanjrani or deliberately wasted them. He said that all opposition parties would probe the debacle.

He accused the establishment of playing a role in the defeat of the no-trust resolution against the Senate chairman.

The JUI-F leader confirmed that the opposition was seriously considering bringing another no-trust motion against Mr Sanjrani.

Former Senate chairman Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari said that relevant rules were being examined for the purpose.

Mr Durrani said the committee condemned the arrest of PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz. He said the opposition had been promised containers for rallies, but instead a witch-hunt had been launched by the government to suppress the voice of dissent.

Accusing Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government of creating problems for Pakistan, he alleged that Kashmir had been sold out. He also accused the government of sabotaging the CPEC and said that work on the game-changer project had come to a halt and the time-tested friend China was annoyed over it.

He claimed that corruption was touching new heights in KP and regretted that the anti-corruption watchdog was not taking any action over alleged corruption in the ‘billion tree’ and BRT projects.

Speaking on the occasion, PML-N secretary general Ahsan Iqbal accused the government of selling out Kashmir during Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the United States. He said the government’s economic policies had failed and it was taking steps under which national institutions would share the responsibility of failure in economic arena. He said that the armed forces should not step out of their domain.

ANP leader Mian Iftikhar also spoke on the occasion and questioned the hasty arrest of Maryam Nawaz and alleged that the opposition was being made the target of political victimisation.

He demanded issuance of production orders for members of the National Assembly from Waziristan. He threatened to stage a sit-in in Islamabad till the ouster of the government.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2019