The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday agreed to send the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government packing for the sake of the country and nation.
PPP and PML-N leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif met earlier in the day in Islamabad. In the meeting, the two leaders agreed upon formulating a joint strategy along with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).
Sources said that Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also approved to summon an All Parties’ Conference (APC) soon.
The leaders of the two parties spoke to the media following the meeting. PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal said that the government, led by the PTI, destroyed the economy of the country within a year.
Ahsan Iqbal said that the opposition was ready to launch a joint campaign against the government, adding that the PPP and PML-N leaders would meet the JUI-F chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He said the PTI government had become a security threat to the country, adding that its economic mismanagement was behind skyrocketing inflation and failure at diplomatic front had isolated Pakistan at the international arena.
He said both parties were unanimous in considering the current government had failed and its ouster was necessary in greater national interest, adding the Imran Khan-led government had completely lost public trust and mandate.
The two sides also discussed the prevailing political situation in the country as well as the issue of production orders for the arrested members of the National Assembly.
During the meeting, Yousaf Raza Gillani, Nayyar Bukhari, Sherry Rehman, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Naveed Qamar and Mustafa Nawaz Khokar were also present from the PPP.
From PML-N, Raja Zafarul Haq, Murtaza Javed Abbasi, Rana Tanveer, Amir Muqam and Marriyum Aurangzeb attended the meeting. Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla and Farhatullah Babar were also part of the meeting.
Speaking on the occasion, Sherry Rehman said the government had failed to curb inflation and presented many mini-budgets during its short stay at the helm. “This is the time to give respect to parliament,” she remarked. She said that all opposition parties were holding intra-party meeting and desired unanimous stance on the anti-government movement.
Ahsan Iqbal said it was playing with the future of the country, which was why it was necessary to topple the incumbent government. To a question by a reporter regarding the next course of action “after toppling the government since there doesn’t appear to be any sign of readiness for election”, the three leaders all jointly declared the parties were ready.
A day earlier, PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal had urged Maulana Fazlur Rehman to postpone the ‘Azadi March’ to Islamabad to November, citing time required for preparations.
Speaking to the media, Iqbal said Fazl came with eight months’ worth of preparation, but that more time was required to mobilise Pakistan’s former ruling party.
Noting that the PML-N had already promised to support the march earlier, the party leader stated that in order to have the party workers come out in full force, it was necessary for the protest march to be deferred to November.
Iqbal requested that an All Parties Conference (APC) be called to set the action plan for the JUI-F march. The PML-N would reach out to Fazl and his party in this regard, he added.
