Opposition alliance adopts national agenda, demands free, fair polls afresh

ISLAMABAD: The Tehreek Tahaffuz Aiyeen-e-Pakistan has adopted ‘the national agenda’ and demanded holding of elections afresh under an independent and impartial Election Commission and free from the ruling group and state agencies’ interference.

The agenda, adopted here at a meeting of the opposition alliance at the residence of ex-senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar late Wednesday night, strongly condemned what it called the suspension of freedom of expression through the PECA law.

It also denounced ‘erosion of judicial independence through 26th constitutional amendment and rejected the curtailment of political rights under the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act; and declared all such legislation, enacted by an unrepresentative assembly in violation of constitutional principles, null and void.

The opposition alliance also declared that pursuant to Article 245 of the Constitution, the role of the Pakistan armed forces must remain strictly within their defined constitutional mandate.

The agenda included national security and law and order and the forum expressed grave concern over the resurgence of terrorism and the collapse of state authority in large parts of Pakistan: the government’s abject failure in safeguarding lives and property, and the alarming rise in communal violence, particularly in Parachinar and other regions, due to the state negligence.

“We demand full implementation of the National Action Plan to restore security and hold the government accountable for its failures,” the alliance maintained and demanded that all political prisoners, including former premier Imran Khan, must be released unconditionally, and all politically motivated cases must be dismissed after independent judicial scrutiny.

The agenda stressed that the arbitrary restrictions on internet access, an essential tool for education and innovation in the Al era, are unacceptable. The alliance demanded immediate restoration of unrestricted internet access.