Opposition parties join hands to 'rid' Pakistan of Imran Khan government

Opposition parties in Pakistan on Sunday announced that it will come together to form a new alliance called the 'Pakistan Democratic Movement' with an aim to oust the Imran Khan-led government.

The consensus of an alliance came following a multi-party conference in Islamabad, where the opposition described the next course of action to "rid the country" of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, Geo News reported.

Addressing a press briefing, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said the opposition is demanding the "immediate resignation of elected Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Niazi."

Nationwide protests will be held from October and will include the participation of lawyers, traders, labourers, farmers and civil society.

"In the first phase, beginning October, rallies will be held in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab. In the second phase, starting in December, huge demonstrations will take place country-wide. In the third phase, to begin in January next year, a long-march will move towards Islamabad," Rehman was quoted as saying.

"To oust the elected government, the joint opposition will use all tactics, including a vote of no confidence and resignations from the Parliament," he said.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif, on the other hand, said the opposition parties had no other option but to take this decision of launching an alliance as the present government was "selected" and it failed in handling the country's affairs and coronavirus crisis.

"The country`s future is at stake if the government continues its regime," he added.

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asserted that the opposition is going ahead with its mission under the guidance and support of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former President Asif Ali Zardari.

However, Bilawal said the leader of the movement is yet to be decided. Asked whether another candidate for the prime ministerial post from PTI was acceptable, the PPP chairman junked the suggestion.

Bilawal also wrote on Twitter about the opposition alliance, "Pakistan Democratic Movement is an important step towards a democratic Pakistan. Like the MRD and ARD movements resisting dictatorships, PDM has united all democratic forces. It has a clear, concrete plan of action to restore the freedom and dignity of our people, parliament, democracy."

Earlier, participating in the multi-party conference virtually, Nawaz Sharif, who is presently in London for treatment, termed the PTI government as "nalayaq" (worthless) and said Pakistan's economy has been completely destroyed in the last two years.

He said the politicians who came to power were hanged, murdered, imprisoned or declared disqualified. "Pakistan has been constantly deprived of a democratic system. When the vote is dishonoured, the entire democratic system becomes meaningless. When it is decided before the election process as to who will win and who will lose, then it can be guessed how the public is betrayed and how the public`s mandate is stolen," the former Prime Minister was quoted by Dawn as saying.