Opposition parties oppose GT Road rally

Say PML-N has shown that it has not accepted on Panama gate SC decision

LAHORE: Opposition parties have strongly criticised former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for taking out a public rally on Grand Trunk (GT) Road. They say such a move goes against a decision of the apex court Pakistan.

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, opposition leaders said the ruling party had repeatedly claimed Sharif was disqualified as a result of a conspiracy. However, they pointed out that the ruling party failed to reveal the names of the conspirators.



Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Central Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira said the former premier should tell the nation who conspired against him, whether it was Pakistan Army or the judiciary. He termed Sharif’s “power show” on GT Road as a conspiracy against the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) and Pakistan Army.



Kaira reminded Sharif of his promise of accepting the apex court decision whether it was in his favour or not. He said the ruling party was trying to give the impression that the SC had given a wrong verdict in the Panamagate scandal case.

“Not only PPP, but everyone in Pakistan had reservations over former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s case, but PPP never dared to attack the apex court,” he maintained.

The PPP leader said Sharif had been crying foul about the use of containers by opposition parties in the past, but today he himself had brought out a container on the roads. He underscored that people of Pakistan have rejected Sharif which had been proven through the low turnout at the “GT Road power show”.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said thieves had taken to streets in an attempt to save their skin from accountability. “They will not escape,” he said with confidence.



“People who submitted fake documents to the apex court were now trying to give justifications on the roads, but the nation cannot be hoodwinked by these tricks,” he said.

Sarwar said rulers’ intrigues against the Pakistan Army and the SC were a conspiracy against democracy and the Constitution of Pakistan, but the opposition would not allow these to materialise.

PTI leader Ejaz Ahmad Chaudhry termed Sharif’s GT Road rally as the funeral of PML-N’s politics and said it was a procession of government servants. “Common citizens are being denied their basic rights. Shops, markets and bus stands have been closed down in many cities on the pretext of security,” he said.

Jamaat-e-Islami Punjab Ameer Mian Maqsood Ahmad said, “Sharif’s decision to show his power on GT Road has proven that he has not accepted the court’s decision. This is a matter of great concern.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2017.