Opposition confab renews call for fresh polls

Slams government for making CPEC controversial

ISLAMABAD:

Opposition parties joined together on Tuesday in calling for fresh elections which, according to them, have become necessary to save the country from sliding deep into economic morass.

The unanimous demand came from an all parties’ conference (APC) convened by Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F in the federal capital where attendees included PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal and leaders of other opposition groups.

“All parties have agreed that a fresh election is the only solution to the current problems. Our struggle will continue until the ouster of the ‘selected prime minister’,” the firebrand cleric said at a news conference after the APC where he was flanked by other opposition leaders.

The opposition parties taunt Imran Khan by calling him a ‘selected prime minister’ because, they allege, he has come to power through a rigged election.

“We will not budge on our demand for fresh elections,” said the Maulana, who recently led his so-called ‘Azadi March’ against the government which failed to achieve anything tangible.

The opposition parties would stage protests in all provincial and district headquarters in their push for fresh parliamentary polls, he added. “All institutions must work within their constitutional limits. We do not accept overstepping of these limits.”



Bilawal endorsed the Maulana’s demand, saying that the PPP wanted a transparent election and an ‘elected’ prime minister. “We will achieve our objective,” said Bilawal, whose father, Asif Ali Zardari, is currently in jail facing financial corruption charges.

Bilawal said his father was sick but the government was not paying attention to his serious medical condition. “Our family has requested that he [Zardari] should be allowed to meet his personal physician, but the government has not yet responded to our request,” he added.

Recently, PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif, who is serving a seven-year jail-term after his conviction in a corruption case, was granted bail on medical grounds. Subsequently, the court allowed him to fly abroad for treatment of his rare medical condition.

On his part, PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal told journalists that the PTI government had practically shut the parliament as it was running the country through presidential ordinances. “Under its rule, future of the young people is at risk. It has become necessary to remove the elected government and install a selected government in its place,” he added.