Pakistan opposition to move no-trust motion against Imran Khan

After nearly a year of strained relations over the issue of en masse resignations from assemblies, the top PPP and PML-N leaders met in Lahore on Saturday and agreed to put the thorny issue behind them for a common cause: to send Prime Minister Imran Khan home.

They also pledged to consider all options to achieve the goal, including a no-confidence motion and a joint long march.

Former President Asif Ali Zardari and his son, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, had lunch with PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and vice president Maryam Nawaz in Model Town, where they reviewed the many possibilities put out by both parties to depose the PTI government.

According to analysts, the opposition parties appear to be making a real effort to meet their long-term goal.

It was a rare sight that Zardari visited the residence of Sharif exclusively to see him. Earlier, the PPP co-chairman would only call on former prime minister Nawaz Sharif here.

During the meeting, PML-N leader Maryam Sharif connected the elder Zardari with her father, Nawaz, over the phone, and they talked about moving together for a common cause.

At a joint media talk with Bilawal, Shehbaz confirmed to journalists outside his house at a joint media talk that there was a "difference of opinion" within his party over the issue of a no-confidence motion against the PTI government, which had pretty much cleared now, according to Dawn.

"The PPP was always clear about a no-confidence motion against the federal government, but the PML-N had a difference of opinion. But now there has been a consensus to a large extent in the party. This proposal will be presented before the PML-N's central executive committee (CEC) and supremo Nawaz Sharif in a couple of days," Shehbaz Sharif announced."

According to the PML-N, the party president spoke to Nawaz, over the phone and told him about the meeting with the PPP leadership. Shehbaz also spoke to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the president of the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and told him about the meeting.

He said the PDM would be taken into confidence about the PML-N`s contacts with the PPP.Both the PPP and PML-N have announced separate long marches on Islamabad with the former`s starting on Feb 27 and the latter`s March 23. Both parties have not yet confirmed whether they will stage a sit-in after reaching the capital, as noted by Dawn.

(With inputs from agencies)