Govt ready to face even bigger protests: Sarwar

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar has said only time would tell whether Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) lives up to its claim of a long march on March 26.

The PTI government is strong and ready to face even bigger protests by the PDM, said the Punjab governor while talking to a delegation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by an overseas Pakistani, Raja Mazhar, at Governor’s House on Saturday.

Chaudhry Sarwar said the PTI and its allies were on the same page and fully prepared to counter the opposition in Senate elections on March 3. He maintained that the PTI would win the Senate elections.

He said there were clear differences among the opposition parties in PDM even after a year-long campaign. “PDM parties have never been on one page and will not be in the future as well,” he said, adding that all PDM parties only wanted to protect their vested interests and they were least concerned about the country. He said the opposition parties had neither any vision nor principles since the PDM was formed for temporary gains and they were clueless about their future strategy as their strategy of protests could not destabilise the government.

Chaudhry Sarwar said the opposition parties should not drag institutions into politics for their political interests. The strength of the country lies in the strengthening institutions, he added. The opposition should accept the government's mandate rather than criticising the institutions, he said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is working for the development and prosperity of the common man. The initiatives like Health Insaaf Card are a testimony to the government’s people-friendly initiatives, he said.