Anti-government protesters march on Quetta streets

Opposition parties rally after JUI-F chief announces Plan C of ‘Azadi March’

QUETTA: With JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announcing Plan C of his anti-government movement ‘Azadi March’, opposition parties marched on the streets of Quetta and then gathered at the city’s Bacha Khan Chowk calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan and fresh elections in the country.

The JUI-F, the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), the National Party (NP), the PML-N, the Awami National Party (ANP) and other parties started their rally from Quetta’s Metropolitan Ground.

Calling for the premier’s resignation, JUI-F’s Abdul Rehman Rafique, PkMAP’s Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal and Nasrullah Zeeray, PML-N’s Jamal Shah Kakar, NP’s Abdul Haq Baloch and PPP’s Syed Iqbal Shah lashed out at the PTI-led federal government for ruining the country’s economy.

The protest march culminated at Bacha Khan Chowk where the participants shouted slogans against the federal government and vowed to continue staging rallies across the country until new elections.

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“In line with Plan C of the joint opposition, we are staging protests in all district headquarters in the country against the PTI government, which has destroyed the country’s economy because of its incompetence and flawed policies,” Agha Rafique said while addressing the protesters.

“Imran Khan’s conspiracies against the opposition parties have been thwarted as today we are united and in one voice demanding his resignation,” he added.

Former provincial minister and senior PkMAP leader Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal congratulated the opposition parties for uniting on a single platform.

“The rigged elections in the country last year deprived the people of their true leadership as political parties set up in a single night are ruling Balochistan,” Ziartwal added.

He further said the joint opposition was trying to restore the supremacy of parliament and the constitution in the country.

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NP provincial chief Abdul Haq Baloch said poverty, inflation and unemployment had increased to unbearable levels but federal ministers and advisers were making ridiculous claims about the prices of tomatoes and other commodities.

“The participation of thousands in the opposition’s Plan C rally proves that the nation has grown tired of the federal and provincial governments,” the NP leader added.

Former speaker and PML-N provincial general secretary Jamal Shah Kakar said PM Imran had failed to keep the promises he had made before the elections. “We will provide relief to the nation by sending the federal government home,” he remarked.

“Despite the freezing temperature, the people of Balochistan have participated in rallies across the province. This will prove to the last nail in the government’s coffin.”

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2019.