• Pervaiz Elahi says onus on PM Imran Khan to reverse allied parties’ inclination towards government.
• “But I believe the time to send delegations [for assuring support] has passed.”
• Govt to lose majority in NA if three allied parties leave its side and join Opposition.

With the no-confidence motion presented against Prime Minister Imran Khan, Punjab Assembly Speaker and PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi has said that all the PTI allies are “100% inclined” towards the Opposition.

“It is Khan sahab’s duty to reverse the tilt. But I believe the time to send delegations [for assuring support] has passed. Had he done this earlier, this could have been avoided,” the speaker, whose party is an ally of the PTI in the Centre and Punjab, said while speaking to Hum News.

The speaker termed the alliance of the three Opposition major parties — JUI-F, PML-N, and PPP — as lasting and stable, just weeks before a session to vote on the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan is called.

The government’s key ally in the Centre, the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA), Monday assured PM Imran Khan of complete support ahead of the no-trust motion, while other allies — BAP, MQM-P, and PML-Q — are still indecisive.

The statement comes just hours after PM Imran Khan said the entire nation was ready to go down with him rather than supporting the “three stooges”, as he slammed the Opposition amid rising political tensions.

In his address to a convention of overseas Pakistanis in Islamabad, the prime minister said: “When the people saw the faces of the three stooges — PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari — they decided against supporting them and expressed their desire to go down with [me].”

The prime minister thanked the Opposition for moving the no-confidence motion as through this, his party had strengthened, with people all-geared up for the March 27 rally — which is expected to take place at D-Chowk just a day before the National Assembly votes on the no-trust motion.

The government allies — BAP, MQM-P, and PML-Q — have been holding meetings back and forth with each another — and even the Opposition parties, as the PTI awaits their final decision.

Numbers game

It is noteworthy that the three allies have 17 representatives in the National Assembly. If these parties join the Opposition, the PTI government’s strength will fall to 162 from 179, and the total number of MNAs in the unified opposition would rise to 179.

To pass the no-trust motion, the Opposition needed the backing of 172 MNAs. The NA currently has a total membership of 341 members, with one seat empty.

The ruling coalition now has 179 MNAs in favour, while the Opposition has 162 MNAs in the lower house of parliament. The Opposition required the backing of ten more MNAs to dislodge the Imran Khan government.