The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Sunday announced to take to streets in a bid to send the current government of PTI home, declaring that the opposition campaign is very much alive and the movement will ‘bury the government with a tide of people that will storm Islamabad’.
“Of course, amid all this, we cannot sit quietly and idly by. We have sworn to raise Pakistan’s ranks among the great nations of the world,” PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said while addressing the rally in Karachi. He urged his supporters to stand up to bring revolution in the country, calling PTI-led government ‘illegitimate’ which came into power through ‘backdoor’. “Fake rulers have destroyed the country’s economy and foreign policy during their three years in power,” he said. “Everyone should abide by their oath and not violate their constitutional boundaries,” he added.
Fazl said that PDM parties are determined to restore the true democracy and supremacy of the parliament in the country. He said that the PTI-led government was lying about economic statistics and the current GDP growth rate has entered into negative territory. “We will fulfil our promises that we made to the people… keep your spirits high and don’t be afraid,” he remarked.
Fazl said that the country’s economy can never prosper with weak foreign policy and added that PDM wanted cordial ties with all countries including India.
He said that the three-year performance of the PTI has revealed how the government has turned the state and the people ‘unsecure’. The PDM chief said that while other nations continue to progress, Pakistan ‘has only regressed’.
Fazlur Rehman said that due to unforeseen circumstances, such as the Covid crisis, PDM’s activities had undoubtedly been impacted, and people began to criticise how the movement has become silent, “but this sea of people, your enthusiasm bears witness that you are alive, the PDM is alive, and we will continue our journey forward without being stopped”.
In his address, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif also vowed to march towards Islamabad under the leadership of JUI-F and PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan-led PTI government. “In 2019, [PM] Imran [Khan] Niazi announced Rs162 billion for Sindh and Karachi and then in 2020 he announced developmental package worth Rs1,100 billion for the province.”
Shehbaz said except few pennies, PM Imran did not fulfil his promise of providing funds to the province. He credited his elder brother and former premier Nawaz Sharif for stabilising country’s economy and restoring law and order in the port city. “Nawaz Sharif in collaboration with the provincial government eliminated the menace of extortion and sack-packed bodies from Karachi,” he added. “When Nawaz Sharif became prime minister [in 2013] the economy was on verge of collapse but he initiated CPEC and installed power projects and added 11,000 MW in the national grid.” Shehbaz said prices of essential commodities have skyrocketed due to the “flawed policies” of PM Imran-led government.
