Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday said since Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Minister of Finance in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, had lost the Senate election on Wednesday (March 3), the prime minister had lost trust of the National Assembly (NA), and, therefore, the only solution to defuse the crisis was holding fresh elections in the country, reported 24NewsHD TV channel. 

Talking to newsmen in Islamabad along with Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Abbasi said it was Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) open challenge to Prime Minister Imran Khan to face the opposition in elections.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meX0iIIrngM

“Now the National Assembly could no more be run through ‘rigging’ and ‘intimidation’,” the former prime minister said, and added the sooner elections were held the better it was for the country.  

Meanwhile, terming the defeat of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate from Islamabad Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in Senate elections unprecedented and an expression of ‘no-trust’ in Prime Minister Imran Khan, former prime minister and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, on behalf of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has asked the prime minister that he should resign forthwith. 

“As many as 17 members of the ruling PTI voted against the party lines thus showing no-confidence in the leadership of PM Imran,” the PPP leader said.