Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah on Saturday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has divided the united opposition. Talking to media persons, he said that the PTI has caused a "major breach" in the opposition benches of lower house of the Parliament. "I would have sacrificed my position to safeguard the opposition under one leader, rather pursuing such a desire, causing immense damage to the united opposition," Shah remarked.
"If PTI had approached me, I would have helped them to pursue their earnest wish," he added. Taking a dig at Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Shah said it is beyond his understanding either to count the party as a coalition partner of PML-N or an opposition party. "I do not know whether MQM-P is 'he or she'," he further said.
The Opposition leader said the government would definitely benefit from the situation as the opposition parties are disunited, adding that just two months ago, MQM was a coalition partner of the ruling party.
Shah said that decisions of all the important matters were taken after consultation with PTI. He stated Fakhruddin G Ebrahim was appointed as Chief Election Commissioner in 2013 on the demand of PTI.
He further claimed that all the opposition parties except PTI and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) are standing with him.
It is worth mentioning here that a joint move by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) is underway to replace Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah with a PTI candidate.
The move has been spearheaded by Dr Farooq Sattar led MQM-P which is said to be quite "annoyed" with the PPP over non-devolution of powers, particularly in Karachi.
However, PTI had suffered a major setback when PML-Q withdrew its support for the move.