PDM says early elections 'need of the hour'

LAHORE: Holding early elections  in the country is the "need of the hour" amid the economic crisis faced by Pakistan, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) said Saturday. 

The demand was put forth by PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif as they addressed a press conference following a meeting at the latter's residence.

Briefing the media, Shahbaz said the country's political developments were discussed in detail during the meeting. He added that matters related to PDM, skyrocketing inflation, increase in electricity, flour prices, and dengue — which is wreaking havoc in the country — also came under discussion.

The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly said all political parties and the masses demand free and fair elections in the country, which is the "only way to take Pakistan forward".

"This is not an easy path; we will have to commit all our energies to it, work, day and night, and only then can we take the country back to the state it was in during 2018 — after that, we can take the country towards progress," he said.

For this, we need to hold free and fair elections, he reiterated.

Responding to a question, Shahbaz said if Fazl calls for a long march against the government, he and his party would back him.

New round of rallies

For his part, Fazl said the PDM alliance was steadfast and serious in achieving its goals of ousting the incumbent government — which was the original motive when the alliance was formed in September last year.

Fazl said a "historic" public gathering would be held in Faisalabad on October 16 and a large gathering would take place in Dera Ghazi Khan on October 31. Prior to this, JUI-F has announced it will hold the Mufti Mehmood Conference on October 14.

"The people want to get rid of the government which has been forced on them, and to resolve this issue, there is a need to hold elections at the earliest," the PDM chief said, adding: "The institutions have been ruined."

The PDM chief said teachers, lawyers, doctors, landowners, labourers, farmers, were all drastically affected due to the government's policies, and a poor person cannot afford to put food on the table due to the rising inflation.

"This is a serious situation," Fazl said.

The PDM chief added that "even Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could not have damaged Pakistan the way the country's incumbent, prime minister, Imran Khan has".