PPP leader Sherry Rehman addresses joint new conference in Islamabad. PHOTO: NNI
The top leaders of the two main opposition parties in a meeting on Tuesday agreed to the need for the “ouster of the incompetent and incapable government” of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but showed their aversion to the idea of joining any sit-in.
The PML-N and the PPP held delegation-level talks, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad and discussed the prevailing political situation in the country. They also deliberated on Maulana Fazlur Rehman-led ‘Azadi march’ to topple the government.
The PPP chairman was accompanied by Raja Pervez Ashraf, Yusuf Raza Gillani, Naveed Qamar, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Nayyar Bukhari and Sherry Rehman. The PML-N delegation included Raja Zafarul Haq, Ahsan Iqbal, Murtaza Abbasi, Ameer Muqam, Rana Tanveer and Marriyum Aurangzeb.
The JUI-F plans to organise its march in the last week of October. Former National Assembly speaker Ayaz Sadiq said a decision has yet to be taken whether the opposition should hold a grand rally or go for a lockdown.
The sources also revealed that both parties decided in the meeting that JUI-F chief would be convinced to hold the “march in the last week of November. Regarding the purpose of delaying the march, a senior PPP leader believed that both parties want time to hold big processions.
In their meeting, the leadership of both parties set certain pre-conditions for joining the JUI-F’s protest against the government. Sources said that both sides discussed different options, regarding JUI-F protest and agreed not to attend any lockdown or sit-in in front of parliament.
“Both parties in principle agreed that we should not join sit-in (dharna),” a senior PPP leader told The Express Tribune. “[In the past] we opposed the sit-ins organised by the PTI and the PAT [Pakistan Awami Tehreek], then how could we back similar move by the JUI-F.”
PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal and PPP Senator Sherry Rehman later briefed the media regarding the decisions taken in the meeting. PML-N Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb and PPP’s Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar were also present at the joint press conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Iqbal and Rehman stressed that there was no difference of opinion among the joint opposition regarding sending the PTI government packing, but added that it had to be ensured that “any and all actions” were taken with consensus and there was no solo flight.
“The government has lost every ounce of credibility to stay in power,” said Iqbal. “It has been decided that a meeting of opposition parties will be called to finalise a joint action plan for the ouster of the PTI government,” he added.
Ahead of the proposed opposition summit, the PML-N and the PPP would hold separate meetings with Maulana Fazl, Iqbal said. The PML-N leaders will meet the JUI-F chief on Wednesday (today) and the PPP representatives would meet him later in the day. “The PML-N will discuss with Fazl the decisions taken in its Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting the other day,” Iqbal added.
The PML-N secretary general accused Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government of “catastrophic mismanagement” which had “crushed the businessmen and investors, and most-brutally, the hardworking and poor people of Pakistan”.
The manufacturing and services industry, as well as the agriculture sector, have been ruined because of the skyrocketing inflation, high cost of fertilizers and raw materials and above all the “inhumane taxes”, he said.
Iqbal also alleged that “an incapable and inefficient PTI” has put Pakistan into isolation among the comity of nations, claiming that the government “could not get even 16 votes in the UN Human Rights Council for a resolution on occupied Kashmir”.
He assured the people that the opposition is united and committed to ridding them of a regime that had taken away their lives and livelihoods. “The only democratic and constitutional way is the fresh elections,” he said. “The opposition parties will build a consensus on how to achieve this objective.”
Speaking at the occasion, Sherry Rehman slammed the government for an ‘insane inflation’, which had destroyed the lives of the masses. She also criticised the government for its failed policies which lead “to a mini-budget every other day”.
Sherry pointed out that oil prices were falling in the international market yet the PTI regime was bent upon dumping a load of its failures on the people of Pakistan despite the recommendation of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA).
She warned that winter was approaching and a more than 200% increase in gas prices will unleash utter chaos. Therefore, she added: “This demand to send this government packing is not a political agenda of the opposition but a desperate call of the people of Pakistan.”
She said that every political party of Pakistan was committed to the Kashmir cause. She described the prime minister’s speech at the UN General Assembly “A mandatory practice which the entire country stands behind” but said that it was not enough.
“Imran Khan needs to share what his plan of action is. He needs to take responsibility for objective, steps to ensure revocation of [India’s] Article 370… Imran Khan should have read out the UN resolutions and pushed it to sort the Kashmir dispute as it did in the case of East Timor,” she added.
Responding to a question, Rehman said that a schedule of the opposition’s meetings had been developed which would take place between PPP, PML-N, and JUI-F to ensure all the opposition parties had a joint strategy in place for the ouster of the PTI government.
“Whether there is a long march or a rally, it must not be a unilateral announcement,” Rehman said. “We are not talking about any dates today, but you will see various meetings being held over the next four to five days,” she added.
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