The anti-government alliance will observe a countrywide “black day” on July 25 against alleged rigging in the July 25, 2018, general elections, PPP leader Waqar Mehdi announced in a press conference on Tuesday at Bilawal House, Karachi after a multiparty meeting.
The opposition parties in the National Assembly also decided to hold a general convention on the same day outside the Mausoleum of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Central leaders of the opposition parties will address the event. Conventions will also be held in other provincial capitals.
The decision comes at a time when the country’s political atmosphere is already charged and the tussle between the ruling and opposition parties has reached the next level. Opposition parties have submitted a no-confidence resolution against the Senate chairman [who enjoys the support of the ruling party], while the ruling PTI has taken the same step against the deputy chairman of the Senate who belongs to the PPP.
The participants of the meeting also constituted an organising committee for the event. Two members each from the PPP, the PML-N, the Jamiat Ulma-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F), the Awami National Party (ANP), the National Party (NP), the Jamiat Ulma-i-Pakistan (JUP), the Pakhtunkhwa Mili Awami Party (PkMAP) will be a part of the committee.
The PPP leader said that inflation, joblessness and poverty have increased immensely since the incumbent “selected” government was “imposed”. He added that the July 25 general convention would become a milestone in the country’s politics.
Other opposition leaders also addressed the presser and said all political parties of the country are on the same page. They added that masses would not forgive the political forces if they didn’t launch a protest drive.
Maryam Nawaz announces rallies across country
Earlier in the day, PPP leader Maryam Nawaz took to Twitter to announce protest rallies across the country. She said that she will be leading the rallies.
The rallies will be held, she said, not only for seeking justice for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif but for “the rule of law, freedom of expression, an end to the manipulation of the entire system to punish public representatives, stealing people’s mandate, and imposition of selected”.
JI to mobilise masses against PTI policies
Jamaat-i-Islami Deputy Emir Mian Mohammad Aslam in a statement announced that the party will take out a big “Awami March” in Rawalpindi on July 19.
He said that the march — under the leadership of JI chief Sirajul Haq — would become a public referendum against the policies of the incumbent government.
The JI leader said that his party would mobilise masses against inflation, joblessness and the International Monitary Fund’s (IMF) conditions.
