PPP will not join PTI election protest

Parliament is the appropriate forum for Khan to bring up these issues, says Khursheed Shah

ISLAMABAD: The announcement made by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to take its case to the streets regarding the May 11 general elections, which took place a year ago, might have lured some political parties, but the main opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has no interest.

On Monday, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, said his party did not want to join the PTI campaign.

Critics might take this decision of the PPP as a ‘deal’ with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), but Shah dismisses such observations.

“This system [democracy] has been earned after a long time and if anything goes wrong people would not believe it," he added.

“We do not support Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [by not joining PTI], but we want to save the system,” Shah said while talking to the media before the start of the 11th session of the National Assembly.

The PTI has completed its homework and would bring forth all the issues in the lower house, and it is likely that it would invite other parties in the opposition to join.

“Imran Khan should have taken up all the issues in the Parliament,” Shah said in response to a question.

He said that the Parliament is the most appropriate forum and Khan should take up his issues there instead of becoming part of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s campaign.

Talking about the Ministry of Water and Power’s recent drive against power theft and disconnection of electricity supply, even to the Parliament house for non-payment of bills, he said “the government actually wanted to divert attention.”

Shah said that the public is facing more than 12 hours of load-shedding since the start of the summer season and the government had failed to manage the supply and demand of electricity.

“It is in this regard that the Water and Power Ministry have launched this campaign so that political parties jump in and make it a political issue,” he added.

PML-N secretary information Senator Mushahidullah Khan said that it was the democratic right of PTI to go for peaceful protest.

However, he said that “Dr Tahirul Qadri neither recognises this system nor is he a national of this country.”

"Qadri had come last year on someone elses’ behest and was paid billons of rupees and this time around he would once again earn millions through his campaign," he added.