LAHORE: The opposition parties have decided to observe a black day on July 25, against what it called the “engineered elections”, held last year on the same date, and hold public meetings in the major cities to protest the imposition of a “selected government” on the country.
The decision was taken at a meeting of senior leadership of opposition parties, chaired by Pakistan Muslim League-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal at the party secretariat in Model Town on Saturday. Delegations of Pakistan People’s Party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Awami National Party and Jamiat Ahle Hadith Pakistan (JAHP) attended the meeting and also discussed the upcoming no-trust move against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani.
Briefing the media after the meeting, PML-N Punjab Information Secretary Azma Zahid Bokhari said the joint opposition decided to observe a black day on July 25 in line with the decision of Rahber Committee of the APC. Public meetings would be held in major cities of the country. The meeting in Lahore would be held outside the Punjab Assembly against the rigged polls and imposition of the IMF-agent government, she said adding the rallies would be held at every cost and there would be no need of permission from anyone. She said Imran Khan continued protests for four years without any permission and the opposition parties also does not need any permission from anyone. She warned Imran Khan to quit the government voluntarily, lest he was ousted with
humiliation.
Claiming positive results of the forensic test of the purported video of accountability court judge Arshad Malik, confessing to sentencing Nawaz Sharif under blackmail, she demanded the Supreme Court to take notice and release Nawaz Sharif. JUI-F Punjab Ameer Dr Ateeq-ur-Rehman told the media that his party would stand by the joint opposition’s decisions.He said the PTI government has failed to deliver. The PPP parliamentary leader in Punjab Assembly Syed Hassan Murtaza said the coordination committee would take a decision about extending the scope of protests to the entire country. “We have decided to hold rally outside the Punjab Assembly. We will participate in the rally, being hosted by the PML-N, and the PPP would stage historic protests along with the joint opposition,” he added.
He said the rally would prove to be a slap in the face of those talking of disunity among the opposition ranks.