Joining the chorus: Upping the ante, PTI demands president’s resignation

Imran Khan spells out seven-point charter of demands.

LAHORE:

Piling up pressure on the government, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief spelt out his seven-point charter of demands on Tuesday, calling upon President Asif Ali Zardari to step down immediately.

“Free and fair elections cannot be held under the president’s watch,” Imran Khan said and called upon his supporters to get ready for his call for “change and a tsunami”.

Imran spelt out his charter of demands at a news conference at PTI’s central media cell after a core strategic committee meeting of his party on Tuesday.

This comes at a time when influential scholar Dr Tahirul Qadri and tens of thousands of his supporters are staging a dharna outside the Parliament House. The massive protest provided grist for the rumour mill as doomsayers started speculating about the fate of the PPP-led coalition government.

“The government must announce the election schedule immediately to put an end to the political uncertainty prevailing in the country,” the PTI chief demanded.

He called for putting in place an interim government according to the spirit of the Constitution. Input from all stakeholders must be sought on the caretaker set-up, he said, adding that any deal between two parties would not be acceptable at any cost.

Imran said the PTI could have joined hands with Dr Qadri for “change” had the latter consulted his party before launching his “million-man march”.

“The PTI wants to bring change through public mandate in free, fair and transparent elections whereas Dr Qadri’s theory is to bring change though street power,” he added.



He accused the PPP and PML-N of cutting a deal on caretaker set-up in a bid to hijack the upcoming elections.

General elections must be held in time, he said, adding that a delay would not be tolerated. However, he said that transparent elections were not possible while Zardari was in the Presidency.

“Zardari wants to purchase a win in the elections with money which was looted during his time in power,” Imran said, adding that Zardari was violating the Lahore High Court verdict in which his dual offices were declared unconstitutional.

The PTI chief also called for the overhaul of the Election Commission of Pakistan, claiming that except the chief election commissioner, all appointments in the ECP were made on political grounds.

In an ominous warning, Imran said, “If free and fair elections are not held, there will be human blood on the roads.”

The PTI chief also called for the implementation of the Supreme Court order and demanded the government arrest Premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

However, he made it clear that his party would not support any extra-constitutional act, maintaining that everything should be done in accordance with the Constitution.


Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2013.