In response to a fiery speech from Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in which he called Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Yousuf Raza Gilani a ‘sell out’ and a ‘compromised leader’, Gilani has said that the foreign minister had ‘stooped to a new low’ and tarnished Pakistan’s reputation.
The former opposition leader said that Qureshi had acted with ‘no rhyme or reason’ and in a way unbecoming of a foreign minister, who was supposed to represent Pakistan on the world stage.
“It is just a contempt of the Senate,” Gilani said. “Has my election as a senator angered him today?”
In his speech, an impassioned Qureshi had forcefully warned opposition members not to depend on Gilani and accused the senator of ‘buying votes.’
Gilani resigned on Monday after he missed a critical vote for the State Bank Amendment Bill on Friday. The bill, which passed, was narrowly approved in a tie-breaker vote. Eight members of the opposition were absent for the vote. Several lawmakers argued that the vote had not been added to the agenda until early Friday morning, which did not give the senators enough time to get to Islamabad for the session.
Qureshi further doubted Gilani’s resignation, saying, “He lied, he will remain and take back the resignation and remain stuck to this chair. This was a drama.”
