Fazl sees PDM victory in war of Pakistan’s survival

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman said Saturday the Opposition alliance was fighting for the country's survival and that it would win in this struggle.

"We will win this war, and Pakistan will have a government that is truly representative of the people, which will understand the problems faced by the masses. The ones who [were imposed] are not aware of the public's issues," Fazl said, while addressing a PDM protest in Karachi.

The PDM has ramped up its anti-government protests, with the first of the new wave of protests taking place in Karachi. The next will be held in Quetta on November 17 and in Peshawar on November 20.

"This journey, which has started from Karachi, will continue and we will march to Lahore, and from there, we will go to Islamabad," Fazl said.

Fazl said that due to rising inflation, people were setting up signs to put their children up for sale as they could not see them suffer. "Some parents are giving their children poison," he added. "I had said that this government had come into power by stealing votes; I had said that this government is incompetent and inept," the Opposition alliance's chief said.

Fazl said Pakistan's survival would remain under threat if the incumbent government "is not drowned in the Arabian Sea". "Revolution takes place where there is an economic crisis."

The PDM chief said leaders "who bring about a nation's demise, have no right to rule". "The country's labourers, shopkeepers, and professionals are all losing hope."

He stressed that the political leadership should play their role during these pressing times and stand by the nation. He added that Pakistan was facing international isolation due to the government's policies.

PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in his address to the gathering, claimed the Opposition does not seek power, rather it seeks to end the rising inflation in the country.

"The incumbent government is making people suffer and the only way to solve the country's problems is to run it in line with the constitution and hold immediate free and fair elections," he said.

The former prime minister said PDM only talks of upholding the constitution.

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) President Mahmood Khan Achakzai said PDM was "not formed because we were all sitting free and just decided to". Achakzai said the country's political parties had worked hard to form the constitution, and no country in the world can run without one.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan chief Shah Awais Noorani said all state institutions were incurring losses, as he lashed out at the government for the energy crisis.

"Federal ministers are saying that gas will be provided three times a day and the country is undergoing electricity and gas loadshedding," Noorani said, counting all the miseries the people are enduring.

Noorani said that PDM would hold an anti-government protest in Peshawar, then in Lahore, and following those, they will march towards Islamabad.