"Given the current situation in Pakistan, [we] cannot afford this dangerous confrontation," the PML-Q President said, chastising the 'politics of rallies and numbers' deployed by both side of the aisle.
Shujaat discouraged both sides from engaging in 'provocative politics' alluding to the possibility of violence between the two groups by saying "everyone would regret if someone is killed during this confrontation."
PML-Q has long been an ally of the PTI, despite a spat earlier this week in which Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid seemingly accused the party of ‘blackmailing’ the government for the Punjab chief minister position in return for the party’s continued support, a comment he later back-tracked.
The prime minister also reportedly told his aides to quit passing disparaging remarks against government allies, following increasingly antagonistic rhetoric from various government officials.
The opposition, too, has criticized the ruling government for thinly veiled threats against members of the opposition, as well as any PTI lawmakers who may choose to vote in favour of the no-confidence motion, with Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Vice President Abid Sher Ali going as far as to compare the PTI's behaviour to the Reichstag Fire of 1933.