Fresh attempts to forge Opp alliance

ISLAMABAD: Chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman paced up his efforts to bring all the opposition parties on a joint platform.

Maulana Fazl held two meetings with Zardari –first was held informally at the wedding function of son of renowned anchor Hamid Mir, while the second was held at Fazl’s residence.

According to sources, during the meeting Maulana Fazl proposed to Zardari for a meeting with Nawaz Sharif so that a joint political strategy could to be devised as the opposition was pushed against the wall.

Sources said Zardari questioned Fazl how the meeting was possible while Nawaz Sharif was in jail. However, he sought some time from the JUI-F chief to consult with the party.

After the meeting, JUI-F chief in an informal talk with the media at his residence, said that the meeting was not scheduled for Saturday and it was with no agenda, “We have a consensus that rigging was done in the general elections,” he said.

Maulana Fazl said that he complained with Zardari about not forming a grand opposition alliance, adding that whether they will unite when they are put in jail.

He said opposition parties succeeded to get the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee and now they should also dare to form the grand alliance.

Criticising the government, Maulana Fazl said the government decisions are weakening the country. “This government did not have the mandate of the people but a fake mandate,” he said. He said due to the economic policies of the government, the dollar soared up against the Pak rupee and country’s foreign exchange reserve reduced to half from $24 billion,” he said.

He said the Israeli plane landed in Pakistan but it was not made public and people were kept in the dark.

In the meanwhile, however, a spokesman for Asif Ali Zardari denied Nawaz' mention during the meeting. "The meeting held an exchange of view on political situation of the country," Zardari's spokesman Amir Fida Paracha said.

"There was no mention of Nawaz Sharif at the meeting," Paracha added.

Meanwhile Chairman Pakistan People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report on the money laundering case was leaked out due to a planned conspiracy and it was the violation of court orders.

“They are running the government only by leveling allegations against the Opposition leaders," he said while speaking through a video link on the birthday of party founder Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto to the workers from Islamabad.

Bilawal Bhutto said, “The JIT report is being considered verdict.” He said that the JIT report without taking the responses named Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Qaim Ali Shah.

He said the political victimisation is being pursued in the name of accountability, but it can't stop the democratic struggle of the country. He said the year rolled by yet another elected prime minister was sent home through judicial process and witnessing a unmitigated witch hunting of the Opposition in the name of accountability. “Seldom before, freedom of expression stifles as it was in 2018, seldom before so many forces and elements play to use so many tools to re-write the political landscape of the country. I say seldom, because it was not entirely new, we have seen it before and we have faced it and we have prevailed,” he said.

Bilawal said, “Last year we have witnessed many developments, witnessed a general elections, third in row a democratic dispensation. We have another civilian transition from a civilian to another so-called civilian government, a new party comes into power or brought in power for first time or brought into the power backing with certain promises,” he said.

Bilawal said, “We are entering the worst era of authoritarianism. We did not fight to have a sham democracy, which is totalitarianism in disguise,” he remarked, adding that the PPP would continue to fight the threat to its liberties and will continue to fight this threat to our liberty, struggle to system on base of Constitution as it is also responsibility of legislature, judiciary, executive media and bars.

The chairman PPP said, “Although the elections of 2018 were stolen we accepted the results for the sake of political and democratic stability. When I say the people mandate was stolen it is not a only a hollow statement and party set up the committee to examine how the elections were manipulated and mandate of the people was stolen.”

The chairman PPP said the white paper of the PPP talked about the issues from holding of controversial census, obstructing the election observers, manipulating electable, stifling of the media and voice of dissent, delimitations in violation of laws, denial of level playing field, mysterious deployment of the army personals inside the polling station, mainstreaming militant organisations as electoral political parties, deliberately failure of RTS system that two day delay in announcement of election results, throwing out of the poling agents, 95 percent of form 45 did not have the signatures of our polling agents.

He said, “The white paper has left out no aspect of the electoral process and it will help the political parties to keep eye on the manipulators and frustrate the manipulators in future.” He questioned that when the accountability of those, who stole the people mandate, would be carried out.

The chairman PPP said the new government is now six months on tenure and started off with fits and starts, with jerks and indecisions with U-turns to justify hallmarks of great leaders. “The worst was that a new set up continue to play indecision, lack of directions and total absences of results,” he said. He said, “The new year will be the toughest on our economy, we are deeply concern as we do not see a capacity to deal with the challenge. A new team has no capacity, they are incapable and don’t know the way and afraid to lead that is why they still shrug off the responsibility and blame on the previous governments,” he said.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said from economy to anti-corruption, CPEC, reforms in Fata and Gilgit-Baltistan from human rights to province of South Punjab, they are clueless and indecisive.”

The chairman PPP said the fight against the corruption cannot be won unless some were treated as sacred cows. There must be no sacred cows when it comes to accountability. It is felicitous to argue that some institutions are less corrupt than other.

Bilawal Bhutto appealed to judiciary to also look into the reforms within the judicial system of the country.

Paying tributes to Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Bilawal Bhutto said, “41 years have passed since my grandfather Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s ‘judicial murder’ and today pain to me says it is shameful the way the country’s justice system failed, it is impossible to forget that how the forces of status quo conspired physically eliminated my grandfather. Although I was not even born when he was executed yet I feel trauma as if he was murdered before my eye,” he said.

Bilawal thanked the workers for standing with Benazir Bhutto in the fight against the dictatorial regimes of Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said the efforts were being made to roll back the 18th Amendment and warned that it would have dangerous affects on the federation. He said those who talk about the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law, human rights, raise the issue of restrictions on media, missing persons were seen as suspiciously and that attitude that endangered the federation. “Those who were raising their voices against injustices were more patriots than anyone,” he said.

He said the country only runs through the Constitution, no unelected person can undo the Constitution and only the people’s representatives will decide the fate of the people.