report in The Express Tribune, Dec 24, 2020
PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) launched the second phase of its anti-government campaign by holding a rally in Mardan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with its leaders pledging that they would not rest until Prime Minister Imran Khan remained in power.
The leaders of the 11-party alliance, in their addresses, lampooned Prime Minister Imran Khan over his “unprepared government” remarks, and insisted that the opposition was not “unprepared” to dislodge the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government.
The PDM leaders asked the masses to prepare for a long march towards Islamabad soon and announced that this anti-government movement would not end until the government resigned. “We are not going to stop before that, so let the people prepare.”
The anti-government rally started from Swabi-Mardan-Gajukhan Road in the form of a procession led by the leaders of the parties in the PDM. The processions culminated in the College Chowk, Mardan, where a rally was held on the main highway.
“We will get rid of this government soon,” said PDM President and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, while addressing the gathering. “We have to prepare for the Islamabad long march,” he said.
Fazl, who had announced a PDM long march on Islamabad in February if the government did not resign by January 31, hinted at an “extended sit-in” in the federal capital, saying: “We will not rest until this government is removed from power,” adding: “We have to purge Pakistan “of these people.”
“This is an illegitimate government and Imran Khan is an incompetent ruler,” Fazl said, taking a jibe at the prime minister over his Tuesday’s remarks that a new government should never come unprepared. Fazl said: “Now he himself is admitting.”
Stepping up his attacks on the government, the PDM president said that the government was so incompetent that it could not fulfil the promises of employment and housing made to the people before the general elections in 2018.
“Today the people are devastated by inflation and shortage of electricity and gas. They[the government] have no right to govern,” he said, adding that he would urge “the selectors to step back because they are as guilty as Imran Khan himself”.
Commenting on the accountability process, the JUI-F chief alleged that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was involved in political revenge, therefore, its accountability process had no credibility. He added that Imran wanted his accountability but “I say he [Imran] himself is being held accountable.”
Maulana Fazl said that today Pakistan had been hollowed, economically. “China and Saudi Arabia are angry with us,” he said, adding that the government returned Saudi debt by borrowing from China at higher interest rate.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz expresses similar views in her address. She started her speech by thanking the people of Mardan for coming out in such large numbers to the PDM rally.
“The people have come out against the incompetent government which Imran Khan himself has admitted that he should not come into the government without preparation,” she said, and asked when he was unprepared “than why was the rush to wear Sherwani” – a reference to the official dress code.
She said Imran Khan did not know how to run the government but he knew obedience. “The people of Pakistan and Mardan have told you [the prime minister] that you might not be prepared to run a government but they are prepared to send you home,” she added.
Stepping up her tirade against the prime minister, she continued: “You said you were unaware of the circular debt, the electricity problem and the current account deficit… but you were fully prepared to cause a sugar and wheat crisis, as well as causing a Rs122 billion loss on LNG [liquefied natural gas].”
“You weren’t prepared to give 1 million jobs that you promised you would, but you were fully prepared to offer jobs to the foreigners who send you money … you were not prepared to ensure justice, but you were fully prepared to file a reference against Justice Qazi Faez Isa,” she added.
The PML-N leader said that the members of the federal cabinet “appear to be playing musical chairs with themselves, switching one portfolio to the other, yet they are incapable of delivering” on the promises made to the people before the elections.
Shah Awais Ahmad Noorani, the head of the Jamiatul Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) said that the people of Mardan have decided that the “selected prime minister must leave the chair before January 31. “If the prime minister does not resign, the people will kick him out,” he said.
Qaumi Watan Party provincial President Sikandar Sherpao said: “The people have come out on the roads against this government. The whole nation is chanting ‘Go Imran Go’,” adding: “We will not rest until the government is removed.”
Addressing the rally, Awami National Party (ANP) Central Senior Vice President Amir Haider Khan Hoti said that the rally in Mardan was a referendum against the government. “This is a successful rally. Let the government see,” he added.
“We want to save the whole country, we are fighting for the whole country,” he said. “Today, it is just the beginning. This journey will continue,” he added. Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the spokesperson of the PDM, was the stage secretary during the rally.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2277125/maryam-slams-imran-for-being-unprepared-for-pms-job-at-pdms-mardan-rally
