Tariq Saeed Peshawar
Reiterating its resolve to continue its struggle for a single point agenda of toppling the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government, the leadership of the combined opposition Saturday said Prime Minister came to power through rigged elections and his day are numbered.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan will not get a chance to escape when the Pakistan Democratic Movement reaches Islamabad.”
We will shut down the roads when we reach the country’s capital,” the alliance chief Maulana Fazal warned while addressing a sizeable rally of the PDM in Peshawar on Saturday.
The Peshawar rally was a part of a series of protests by PDM, which included demonstrations in Karachi and Quetta earlier this month.
Maulana Fazal ur Rehman said the Opposition has been persistent that the government “formed the basis for rigging” in the next elections when it bulldozed 33 bills in Wednesday’s joint Parliament sitting, including crucial bills related to the use of electronic voting machines and granting voting rights to overseas Pakistanis.
“We will keep fighting till the government drowns in the sea,” the PDM chief said, adding that the current setup had “damaged the country’s Islamic identity”.
He claimed that that the Opposition, ahead of a joint sitting of the parliament, “received threatening phone calls demanding that votes for the passage of bills be given in favour of the government”. PDM chief said the Opposition alliance has not demanded local body elections, rather it wants to hold general elections immediately.
The Maulana, referring to the 2018 general elections, said the “stolen” votes of the people should be returned to them, alleging that the government has made arrangements to rig the next elections once more.
Agencies add: Maulana Fazlur Rehman said “The present government has taken historic loans. People who are worried about inflation are forced to sell their children. They are agents of dictators, not of the people.
We have now put our hands to your collars,” he added. He said that Imran Khan is not important element of the country’s politics, he was not a representative of the people, an attempt was made to mislead the young generation.
“We are not greedy for power. If Pakistan wants to get independence then it has to get independence from the present government. Now, the national institutions have to play role as neutral,” he maintained.
Former Prime Minister and leader of the Pakistan Muslim league-N Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said PM Imran was brought to power through rigged elections and PTI was not the people’s representative.
“The government would now “rig” the next general elections, just like it had “rigged” the Daska by-elections. The legislation done in the Parliament will not resolve the country’s problems.” Abbasi said.
He said when the rulers are oblivious to the people’s sufferings, then they are not fit to rule and should step down from office.
He alleged that the PTI government has granted an NRO to Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by passing a law in this week’s joint parliamentary sitting that allows him the right to review and reconsideration, in line with orders from the International Court of Justice.
For his part, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the incumbent government was “not the people’s representative”.
