PDM rally to be held at all costs on 22nd: leaders

PESHAWAR: The media committee of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Thursday declared that the public gathering on November 22 would be held at all costs and it would prove a referendum against the government.

They were addressing a joint news conference here. Those who spoke on the occasion included Abdul Jalil Jan of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, Senator Rubina Khalid of Pakistan People’s Party, Ikhtiar Wali of Muslim League-Nawaz, Asad Afridi of Qaumi Watan Party and others. They said the government was using every tactic against the gathering. But, all the parties were united to ensure maximum participation in the gathering, they said.

The information secretaries of different parties said that the government was trying to create hurdles for them. The banners about the gathering were being removed and false news being spread through mainstream as well as social media. But the people were aware of the government’s designs, they said. Inviting media persons for attending and covering the gathering, the PDM committee expressed their optimism that the media would give proper coverage to the political gathering in an objective manner. They said that all the leaders of the component parties of PDM were united and they were committed to hold the gathering come what may. Ikhtiar Wali said that the public gathering addressed by Maryam Nawaz Sharif in Mansehra the other day was part of the PDM campaign. He said the opposition parties were ready to combat the government’s tactics. The current government was more dangerous than Covid-19, Ikhtiar Wali said, while terming the government as “Covid-18”.

He said the political parties were playing their political role. If the government wants to register cases against political leaders for holding public gatherings, they should first register cases against Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, who arranged a gathering in Swat, he said. He said the current government was the most inefficient and incompetent government of the history of the country. Daily use items during the current rule have gone beyond the buying capacity of the common man, he added. They promised to give homes to the people, but snatched residential facilities from them. They promised to give jobs to the people, but left them jobless, the PML-N leader remarked.

Rubina Khalid said that people from all walks of life would attend the gathering. He said that every person was suffering due to the flawed policies of the rulers. The incompetent rulers have snatched bread and butter from the poor and medicine from patients, she said. She alleged that the worst rigging was made in the Gilgit-Baltistan. The PPP candidates were winning by evening, while the PTI candidates were made victorious by morning, she said. She warned the government to talk sense and don’t make the mistake of stopping the opposition parties.