Rasheed says establishment gained respect after transparent by-elections
\n RAWALPINDI
\nAML chief Sheikh Rasheed said Monday that PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari \u201cburied\u201d PML-N \u2014 after the party suffered a humiliating defeat in the Punjab by-elections.
\n\u201cThe funeral of PML-N\u2019s [politics] took place yesterday; Zardari has buried the party, and now, Maulana Fazlur Rehman should offer prayers for them,\u201d Rasheed, who is an ally of the PTI, said while addressing a press conference.
\nReferring to the \u201clandslide victory\u201d of PTI in the hotly-contested by-polls, Rasheed said that it was a \u201claboratory test\u201d and the nation gave its verdict in favour of PTI Chairman Imran Khan. \u201cIt has been proved today that Imran Khan\u2019s narrative has reached every home,\u201d he said and doubled down on the demand of dissolving the assemblies this week \u2014 and holding snap polls. \u201cShahbaz Sharif has become the PM of just Capital Development Authority (CDA),\u201d Rasheed said in a jibe at PM Shehbaz.
\nHe also noted that the PTI could have won the fourth seat in Lahore if it had taken a better decision \u2014 as the party managed to secure three out of constituencies.
\nThe former interior minister \u2014 who wanted the establishment to stay away from the by-polls \u2014 also said that the establishment gained respect due to yesterday\u2019s free, fair and transparent by-elections.
\nPTI grabbed 15 of the total 20 seats in the Punjab by-polls, while PML-N won four seats and the remaining one seat went to an independent candidate.
\nBefore the by-polls, the PTI and PML-Q had already jointly attained the strength of 173 (163 of PTI and 10 of PML-Q).
\nNow, with 15 additional seats, this strength has reached 188 whereas the figure for the simple majority stands at 186. This means the PTI and PML-Q have crossed that landmark.
\nOne independent MPA will likely be part of the new ruling coalition.
\nThe clear victory of PTI in the Punjab by-polls has turned around the number game in the Punjab Assembly, with Chaudhry Pervez Elahi now most likely to replace Hamza Shahbaz Sharif as the new chief minister of the province in the coming days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rasheed says establishment gained respect after transparent by-elections RAWALPINDI AML chief Sheikh Rasheed said Monday that PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari \u201cburied\u201d PML-N \u2014 after the party suffered a humiliating defeat in the Punjab by-elections. \u201cThe funeral of PML-N\u2019s [politics] took place yesterday; Zardari has buried the party, and now, Maulana Fazlur Rehman should offer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[449,8878,362,232,821],"class_list":{"0":"post-272005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-asif-ali-zardari","9":"tag-by-polls","10":"tag-pmln","11":"tag-punjab","12":"tag-sheikh-rasheed"},"yoast_head":"\n