Countering PTI: Nawaz promises tit-for-tat rally at Minar-e-Pakistan

Nawaz says Lahore gathering will be the start of PML-N’s Long March to Islamabad.

LAHORE:

The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) is seeking financial assistance from its overseas supporters as it furthers its anti-government movement across the country.

A high-level PML-N delegation led by the party’s overseas wing president Senator Ishaq Dar met with party president Nawaz Sharif at Raiwind on Friday to discuss the party’s scheduled public gatherings.

Sources said that some overseas party workers expressed displeasure over Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan’s large public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan last month and asked Sharif to assemble a rally at the same place as a rejoinder to PTI supporters overseas.

Sources said that Nawaz has assured party members that he will hold a tit-for-tat rally at the same venue, however, it will take place after he has held rallies across the country. He said the Lahore gathering will be the start of the party’s Long March towards Islamabad.

During the meeting, Nawaz also shared details of the party’s strategy to topple the government. He recalled that PML-N earlier restored the judiciary with a Long March in 2009 and said his party will save the country from multiple crises through another such movement.

“The country has already been divided into two parts because of secret hands,” said Nawaz. He said that he considers politics to be “a sacred mission” and that he would not forego any sacrifice to save the country.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the party has sought financial help from its overseas supporters for its ongoing movement against the PPP-led coalition government. They said that the party’s other sources of income like those of local donors have shrunk and that the PML-N has asked its overseas wing to donate generously.

Sharif also presented details of the expenditures of their scheduled rallies in Pakistan, like the ones that will be held in Faisalabad and Gujranwala on November 20 and 24 respectively.

Additionally, he chalked out the plan for PML-N rallies in Bahawalpur, Multan and Rawalpindi. Later, he said he will visit the Hazara division of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and other areas and move to Balochistan to hold more rallies.

Sources revealed that Dar presented the estimated cost of each rally, which would vary between Rs15 million and Rs30 million each depending on the site of the gathering.

Furthermore, Sharif has called all party office bearers, MNAs and MPAs from the Faisalabad division tomorrow (Saturday) to Raiwind. In this meeting, Sharif plans to discuss how his party can make his rally successful in Faisalabad.

Party sources said Nawaz Sharif will resume his movement against the government through an important announcement in Faisalabad on November 20.

PML-N initiated this movement on October 19 from DG Khan. His younger brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has already addressed a rally in Lahore on October 28 where he lashed out at President Asif Ali Zardari.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 12^th, 2011.