KARACHI: After a months-long lull, the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) alliance will stage an anti-government power show at Karachi’s Bagh-e-Jinnah today (Sunday).
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has set up a huge stage to accommodate as many as 500 people, according to a party spokesman. PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif and other prominent opposition leaders will attend the public meeting.
At least 10,000 JUI-F volunteers will guard the gathering and escort leaders to the stage from the VIP entryway at the back of the venue, the spokesman said. The JUI-F has also set up toilets, ablution places, and canteens.
A day earlier, the opposition alliance announced that it would relaunch its anti-government campaign by organising rallies and caravans across the country next month after a public meeting in Karachi on Sunday.
After an hours-long meeting of the PDM, its chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the alliance had decided to go with “full force” against the government and make every effort for restoration of a “true, democratic and strong parliamentary system”.
In a strong message, the PDM chief accused the Pakistan Peoples Party, once part of the alliance, of “backstabbing” but vowed to avoid direct confrontation with any opposition party.
“Right now we have our focus on the struggle for true democracy in the country,” Mr Fazl said in reply to a question on the role of PPP while talking to the media after the meeting at a local hotel.
He cited a list of areas where the PTI government had “failed miserably” during its three-year government and said it had only made records of unemployment, poverty and inflation. Only recently, he said, some 17,000 people were laid off from different public sector organisations which were self-explanatory of the government performance.
“We will soon issue a white paper on three years of the PTI in power, revealing its financial irregularities and siphoning of funds,” said the PDM chief.
Maulana Fazl described the details of the discussion held at the alliance meeting, which was also attended by former prime minister and PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif and PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz through video link.
“The country’s current political situation was reviewed and the PDM’s future roadmap was deliberated upon,” the Maulana said. “It was unanimously observed that the most pressing issue is the country’s current economic situation which has deprived the common man of peace of mind and made it difficult for him to survive,” he added.
