NDC asks president, PM to resign

ISLAMABAD:

The National Dialogue Committee (NDC) on Tuesday demanded resignation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his government saying they failed to deliver.

They also called for the formation of National Unity Government to run the country until fresh elections are held.

NDC leaders said the incumbent government had completely failed in the areas of governance, economy, security and public welfare.

Addressing a joint press conference at the National Press Club, former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, former federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Muhammad Ali Durrani, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information adviser Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Mahmood Maulvi and other leaders said it was in Pakistan's national interest that the current dispensation step aside to ensure security, stability and economic progress.

Senior politician Muhammad Ali Durrani said immediate and effective measures were needed to pull the country out of its political, economic and security crises.

He demanded that the prime minister and president resign, the National Assembly be dissolved and fresh general elections be held so that people could elect their representatives.

Durrani said that, for the first time in history, the federal government had presented a budget by cutting the provinces' share of funds. "It is a clear evidence of serious economic crisis and a warning for national security," he said. He said that the rulers were using resource cuts to advance their political interests, malign institutions and shift responsibility for their failures onto state institutions.

Imran Ismail said Pakistan was passing through a sensitive period marked by both internal and external challenges. He said the armed forces, under the leadership of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, had played an outstanding role in the war against India and in promoting global peace.

However, the achievements had been overshadowed by domestic problems and economic deterioration under the present rulers, creating a perception of failure that was not in the interest of the country, its people or its institutions.