Cannot support in-house change till we are 100% sure of victory: JUI-F

• Haideri says JUI-F can't support in-house change unless 100% sure of victory
• Says government will have to go home, if not today then tomorrow
• Reiterates PDM leaders' resignations are with the leadership, will resign when decision is taken
  

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ISLAMABAD: Senior Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri said Monday that his party cannot support an in-house change of government unless there were 100% changes of victory. 

A report in The News from a couple of days ago had stated that the PPP will present a play in the upcoming meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on bringing about an in-house change at the federal and Punjab level.

"If Bilawal has come up with an estimate [of number needed to bring about an in-house change in government] then he should put it forth in the next PDM meeting," said Haideri. "If Bilawal Bhutto can convince other parties on the matter, then we have no reservations."

The JUI-F leader reiterated that his party's stance had remained unchanged from day one that Opposition parties should not have taken oath of the parliament, after general elections 2018. 

Speaking about the PDM, he said that a party cannot take solo flight when it is part of an alliance. "One has to support other parties because in an alliance, one cannot undertake solo flights or take lone decisions," he added. 

On PM's resignation, Senate election

When asked to comment on the Opposition's deadline of resigning from the assemblies in protest against the government, Haideri said:

"Our resignations are with us, when the leadership [of the PDM] decides, we will tender them," he said. 

Haideri said that the Opposition was waiting for the prime minister's resignation but he had not thrown in the towel. He alleged that the government used to panic whenever the PDM held its political gatherings. 

"Whenever the PDM holds its rallies, the government screams," he said. "They allocate 15 ministers in their bid to fail our jalsas. The government is afraid of the PDM hence if not today, it must go home tomorrow," added Haideri. 

Speaking on the Senate election, the JUI-F leader said that the party was not worried because its parliamentarians had "never sold out". 

"Whatever decision the PDM leadership takes on Senate election, we will stand with it," he said.  

PPP working on a plan to bring about in-house change: sources

According to a report in The News, the PPP has prepared a working plan to muster support of the PDM for an in-house change, both in the Punjab and federal level. 

The sources had said the working plan, prepared by former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP chairperson Bilawal in coordination with senior party members, would be presented in an upcoming PDM meeting.

“The plan will focus on three no-confidence motions against Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar, Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser and Prime Minister Imran Khan,” the sources had said.

The sources had said that the PPP leadership has taken strong notice of apprehensions, shown by the PML-N and the JUI-F over its proposal of in-house change and decided that it would give arguments and thoroughly present its viewpoint in the upcoming PDM meeting.

They said the PPP leadership believes that timing is always important in politics so the ‘numbers game,’ with regard to the in-house change, should not be an open secret for political opponents.

A senior party member, who requested anonymity, had said, “We will hit the right corners of the ‘house of cards’ that will not survive and collapse soon after the Senate elections.”

The sources had said both former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari would attend the PDM meeting through video links and give their views regarding an in-house change, the intended long march and resignations from assemblies. 

They had said PPP would urge the Opposition parties to first move a no-confidence motion against the speaker of the National Assembly and then they should repeat this act against the prime minister, adding “Asif Ali Zardari will also take the Opposition parties into confidence over the plan of the in-house change.”