The second power show of 11-party opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement is underway in Karachi, hosted by the Pakistan Peoples Party.
PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, PML-N vice presidents Maryam Nawaz and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chairman Mehmood Achakzai, among other leaders, arrived on the stage set up at Bagh-i-Jinnah late in the evening.
Hundreds of supporters of the opposition parties welcomed the leaders at the venue, dancing to the beat of PPP’s anthem.The crowd waved flags of the various political parties represented by the PDM. Bilawal thanked the enthusiastic crowd and welcomed the JUI-F chief and PML-N vice president.
MNA and Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Mohsin Dawar, who was one of the first speakers at the rally, termed the PDM as a "beginning for real democracy and civilian supremacy" in the country. He criticised the incumbent government for filing "baseless cases" against political workers, whether they were from Waziristan, Gilgit Baltistan, Balochistan or Sindh. The cases, Dawar said, were filed due to political differences, adding that the current regime was "worse than a dictatorship".
"I consider this government to be worse than a dictatorship because they have even placed a prime minister as a punching bag. In reality, the decision makers are Pakistan Army and its agencies," he declared.
"I want to say that states cannot run through war franchises or war contracts," Dawar said. "In order to run a state, you will have to make its people realise that they are citizens of that state, not its slaves. In order to run a state you will have to transfer power to the civilians otherwise, in my opinion, this company cannot function."
Dawar had arrived in Karachi earlier today along with supporters and workers of the PTM group to attend the rally. Dawar said that PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had invited him to attend the public meeting.
Dawar had not attended the first rally of the opposition alliance.
Awami National Party’s Ameer Haider Khan Hoti took the PTI government to task over rising inflation and cost of living. “Imran selected Khan, ask the poor what happens when their electricity bills come, the price of food commodities, how they are buying medicines,” he said.
“I want to ask you where are those 1 crore jobs of yours? You talked about 1 crore jobs and 50 lac houses. And what came of it? Buffaloes, goats, eggs,” he quipped.
The ANP leader went on to say that the PDM’s aim was not to seek an NRO, as has been repeatedly claimed by government minsters, but “to look for solutions to problems such as the economy, the NFC award, protection of the 18th amendment, powers of institutions, protection of the Constitution and most of all the supremacy of parliament.”
Speaking next, Mehmood Khan Achakzai of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, said that they (opposition parties) hadn’t come to hurl obscenities at people. “We made the PDM with a lot of thought. This convoy has set out to make a new Pakistan — a Pakistan that was dreamed of by the person whose tomb is nearby.”
Giving a lesson on Pakistan’s history to the charged crowd, Achakzai said that Pakistan was meant to be a fort. “The state was supposed to be a Muslim state, where there would be justice, where power would rest with parliament, where the Constitution would be supreme and people would be independent.”
The PkMAP leader then took a swipe at the government’s accusations regarding the PDM bringing state institutions into disrepute. “We are being told not to talk about institutions. That man is saying this country is safe because our army is strong and is protecting us,” he said. “Do you think the US is being upheld by Trump, Russia by Putin, Germany by that woman? Tt is their army [that is protecting them]? This is not a favour, it is their duty to protect the country,” he said.
"We have no issues with institutions, but when a person from that institution hangs an elected premier, shouldn’t we take his name?” he questioned, adding that Article 6 of the Constitution stated that anyone who violates the Constitution is a traitor and so is anyone who supports them.
"We are not mad. We don't want to disrespect our forces," he said, adding however, that the security forces must stay within their constitutional ambit. "They (security forces) will have to give us their word that they will stay within the ambit of the Constitution."
Maryam's maiden public appearance in Karachi
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