PTI to launch anti-govt drive from Karachi

Fawad says Imran will hold public rallies from Aug 19 to Dec 10

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will launch a well-orchestrated countrywide anti-government movement to send the current setup packing, the party’s Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry announced on Monday.

Talking to media-persons in Islamabad, the former federal minister said that PTI Chairman Imran Khan will address public gatherings in major cities across the country to rid the country of the “inept and imported government”.

He said that the PTI chief will formally launch the anti-government movement from Karachi on August 19, where he will hold a mammoth power show, adding that the former prime minister will go on to hold similar gatherings till December 10 across the country.

Fawad said that the PTI strongly condemns “police torture” on Dr Shahbaz Gill, adding that what was happening to him is the “height of injustice” and the entire party stood with him. He went on to say that the party will take up the issue of Gill’s “torture” globally.

He expressed his shock over the court’s decision to issue a notice for a hearing regarding Gill's physical remand, saying that they just wanted this remand to torture him.

The former minister stressed that the matter should be resolved at the earliest, as Gill is being targeted because he is weak. He added that his case is similar to Nawaz Sharif, Fazlur Rehman and Maryam Nawaz.

The PTI leader said that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has set a dangerous and new tradition of cracking down on innocent children and helpless women, adding that this is causing irreparable damage to Pakistan's politics.

Read Gill criticised for incautious remarks

Talking about Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s offer of a “Charter of Economy”, Fawad termed the proposal a foolish idea, saying that the PTI could not support the destructive economic policy of the “government of crooks” that brought the country to the verge of economic collapse.

He slammed the government’s flawed policies, which he said would trigger a tsunami of unemployment.

The former minister claimed that the imported government was trying to create a rift in the judiciary, adding that the people did not forget the era of Rafiq Tarar when the judiciary was divided. He vowed that the PTI would foil all such nefarious plans.

Criticising the government for gagging media’s voice, the PTI leader said that the party would hold a press freedom day on Thursday to express solidarity with journalists facing coercion and torture at the hands of the government.

He said that the issue will be taken up with Amnesty International and the international community, as the PTI chief has issued special instructions to Dr Shireen Mazari in this regard.

Fawad also ruled out talks with the corrupt government. However, he added, talks could only be held on a framework for early, free and transparent polls.

With that said, he claimed that the government was “running away” from elections because they saw the writing on the wall that they would face a drubbing at the hands of Imran.

He said that the PTI will not tolerate any further delay because the imported government has already plunged the country into myriad problems. He said that the government should learn a lesson from 1970 instead of conspiring to suppress PTI.

Coming down hard on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the PTI leader said that the party has no trust in the electoral body, which worked as a subsidiary of the government.

He demanded that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) money laundering cases should be brought to the fore and Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz and Fazl should bring back their money parked abroad.