ISLAMABAD, Chief Minister of the Punjab province in Pakistan Nawaz Sharif said the Bhutto government had paid the “price” promised to the three opposition “defectors” by taking them into her cabinet.
Commenting on the induction of the three members on Saturday, he said this clearly substantiated the opposition allegation that the ruling had taken the “props of money and promise” to defeat the Opposition sponsored no-trust move.
Sharif, who is also the chief of the Islami Jamhooni Ittehad (IJ1), said the combined opposition parties could not be weakened by such manoeuvres.
The combined opposition, which now looked in minority would soon be in majority in the national assembly’ he told newsmen in Quetta(PTI)
The Opposition accused Prime Minister Benazir Butto of cheating during the vote on the no-confidence motion and vowed to continue efforts to bring her down.
The Opposition could muster only 107 votes in the 237-member National Assembly 12 short of the 119 required to unseat her.
“Approximately 22 members were whisked out of the National Assembly hall just before the voting started and were kept in the Prime Minister’s Chamber,” Opposition leader Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi charged several hours after the vote. No deputy has, however, come forward to substantiate the charge.
“WE will continue to shake her Government until it comes down,” Mr Jatoi told a Press conference organized by the 16-party combined Opposition.
NEW DELHI: The no-confidence motion against Ms. Bhutto was historic in that it was for the first time in 42 years that Pakistan’s National Assembly could decide the fate of the country’s Prime Minister.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 17, 1989
