ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Terming Prime Min­is­ter Imran Khan’s speech at the Parade Ground on Sunday a ‘farewell address’, the opposition said there was no surprise in it as was being claimed by the ruling party for the past many days.

PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz said PM Khan had nothing to reveal at the much-trumpeted public meeting and had no courage to take a stand. “If you (Imran Khan) had any secret, you would have propagated world over,” Ms Nawaz said in response to the prime minister’s statement that he had many a secret, but would not reveal them.

Ms Nawaz said PM Khan was sitting silent and not speaking up because he knew several corruption cases would be opened against him that included LNG, sugar and flour scams. She also chided PM Khan for threatening state institutions, saying Nawaz Sharif would hold the institutions accountable, if he returned. “These state institutions, public and this country belong to Nawaz Sharif,” she added.

PPP says PM wants country to burn to ‘save own skin’; PML-N accuses him of having no courage to take stand

A spokesman for Bilawal House said in a statement that Imran Khan wanted to put the country on fire in an effort to save his own skin. “He [Imran Khan] had no business even bringing Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s name to his ‘crass tongue’. What was his surprise? That he’s obsessed by Bhutto Shaheed?” said the spokesman, adding these were the rantings of an “unhinged mind”.

“His [Imran’s] claims are bizarre, tragic-comic in fact. He has lost support in parliament and in the court of people,” he said, adding that the common man could not bear the burden of his government’s “terrible misrule”.

“No foreign hand is needed to remove him. That is just his delusional mind speaking; cannot even be dignified with a response. Sorry to see such toxic words pollute the public discourse,” he stated.

The spokesman said Imran Khan clearly did not understand that attacking others won’t help the country, or himself. “But he clearly is not thinking of Pakistan or it’s stability. He is willing to push the country into the fire to save his own office, but it’s obvious to everyone the game is over. In any case in democracy you have to learn to give up power. Incumbency is not for life, which seems to be the sense of entitlement in his muffled mind,” he said.

PPP’s central information secretary Syed Nayyar Bukhari said the PTI’s public meeting was a flop show, adding that after failing to present 172 members in parliament, Imran Khan was crying. “Now, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Asif Ali Zardari will not give any NRO to Imran Khan.”

Mr Bukhari said getting funds from Israel and India was against the country and Imran Khan would face the music soon.

PPP leader Faisal Karim Kundi said Imran Khan was using religion card after failing to give any argument over his government’s failure. “It was a farewell public meeting of ‘former’ Prime Minister Imran Khan.”

Meanwhile, a senior leader of the PML-Q — a PTI ally at the Centre and in Punjab — said on condition of anonymity that there was nothing surprise in the prime minister’s much-talked about speech. “We don’t see any surprise [in PM’s speech]; and where’s is the ‘trump card’ he was talking about.”

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2022