TAXILA: Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Monday said that there was no threat of any no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Khan from the opposition, adding that it was just a political stunt.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had earlier made many announcements, like tendering en masse resignations from assemblies, short march, long march, no-confidence motion against the Senate chairman, but it had failed to achieve any target. If the opposition moved a no-confidence motion against the prime minister in the National Assembly it would meet the same fate like the opposition’s other options had faced in the past, he added.

He was of the view that the PDM had deviated from all its announcements. He said the PDM or any other opposition party was not a threat for the government as the 11-party alliance’s anti-government movement was “practically over”. “The unnatural association of 11 heterogeneous parties could not last even for 11 months,” he said.

He termed the PDM a “flat tyre”, saying that all parties included in this alliance had used all of their resources in its rallies and they had now known that the people were not with them. The opposition should announce the date of the long march because the government would “not cause any impediments for them and would welcome them instead”.

He said: “If the opposition thinks that the government will come under pressure from the rallies, it will never happen.”

About the increase in prices of electricity and petrol, he held the previous government responsible for it. He said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government contracted costly agreements. He said the incumbent government was planning best management and delivery strategies to check inflation ratio. He expressed hope that due to its prudent policies, the government would overcome inflation and unemployment during the current year.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2021