Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said the united opposition would get a “second surprise” on March 27 – the day of the ruling party’s power show in Islamabad’s Parade Ground – and advised them to “get ready”.

The foreign minister's reaction came in response to the opposition''s statement that the decision to adjourn the NA session without tabling of the no-trust vote as a “surprise”.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has many times talked about his “trump card,” which he would unveil at an appropriate time and claimed to give a “surprise” to the opposition on a day before the no-confidence motion against him.

According to media reports, this past week PM Imran met former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar, currently a lawmaker in the Punjab and a former PML-N stalwart, giving credence to the rumour that he was planning to join the ruling party.

“I demand that [Leader of Opposition in NA] Shehbaz Sharif take back the inappropriate words he used for the NA speaker and it does not suit the seat of opposition leader,” he said while addressing a press conference outside parliament in Islamabad.

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The foreign minister was of the view that the NA speaker’s decision to adjourn the house session till Monday was taken as per the rules and Constitution. “We fight the no-confidence motion politically and democratically.”

Holding a bill for a separate province of South Punjab, FM Qureshi said the ruling party has fulfilled its promise to the people and lauded the government’s legal team on the development.

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Earlier, the foreign minister had submitted the bill to the NA speaker and deputy speaker. He urged the august house speaker to take up the bill on March 28 as the cabinet has approved it after legal amendments to it.

Moreover, he also urged opposition leaders to support the bill and advised the Leader of Opposition in Senate Yousaf Raza Gilani to avoid “shedding crocodile tears”.

“We are trying to give those [South Punjab people] a separate province status,” he said, adding that such a thing was an old demand of the people. He was of the view that the opposition leaders could set “a new example” by supporting the bill. “I appeal to the people of southern Punjab to demand of their MNAs to approve the bill.”

To a query over the timing of the bill as the government was facing a no-trust move, FM Qureshi claimed the government did not delay it as it followed several processes.