Rahbar Committee postpones APC scheduled for Aug 29

Cites Leader of Opposition in NA Shehbaz’s ill-health for postponement

ISLAMABAD: The Rahbar Committee of the opposition parties has postponed the all parties conference (APC) scheduled for August 29, citing ill-health of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.

The charter of demands for holding Azadi March in October could not be agreed upon during the Rahbar Committee meeting of nine opposition parties held on Monday.

The meeting, presided over by Rahbar Committee Convener Akram Durrani, was attended by Ahsan Iqbal, Tahir Bizenjo, Mian Iftikhar, Hashim Babar, Nayyar Bukhari, Farhatullah Babar, Usman Kakar and Shafiq Pasroori.

Durrani said, “All opposition parties have given their charter of demands, which would be kept before the APC.”
Rejecting Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s call for taking out Azadi March, Pakistan Peoples Party General Secretary Nayyar Bukhari said, “When the JUI-F takes us into confidence, the decision will be taken.”

The Rahbar Committee was supposed to finalise the charter of demands regarding the Islamabad march, but the opposition parties could not agree on the recommendations due to which it was decided that after developing consensus on the recommendations the charter of demands would be presented before the APC.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Durrani said, “All opposition parties have presented their demands and they would be collected and presented before the APC.”

Declaring Prime Minister Imran Khan’s address an acceptance of surrender, the committee convener said that it seemed as if he was moving towards his resignation.

He said, “It remains to be seen as to how many people will come out on the PM’s call.”

He accused the PM of selling Kashmir.

“Making Trump a mediator is like making [Indian Prime Minister Narendra] Modi a mediator,” said Durrani, adding that the PM’s statement that the world might “support us is an expression of failure”.

He said that this was also an acceptance that the foreign policy had failed.

He quoted the PM as saying that no one in or outside was ready to help him and this “is why it seems that he is disappointed and moving towards his resignation”.
PML-N General Secretary Iqbal said the decision of putting Islamabad under lockdown would be taken by the APC.

The Rahbar Committee termed the posting of two Election Commission of Pakistan members by the president as unconstitutional, saying that the president could be held accountable for it.