PTI decides to intensify pressure for early polls

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senior Vice President Chaudhry Fawad Hussain Monday announced that the party would run a countrywide anti-government drive from August 19 to Sept 10 to send the “corrupt imported” government packing and conduct of fair, free and transparent early elections.

“This imported government is hell bent upon destroying Pakistan economically and politically,” he alleged while talking to journalists here at Banigala. Fawad said PTI Chairman Imran Khan would address public gatherings in major cities across the country to rid the nation of the inept and “imported government”, which had made life of the common man a hell.

He said Imran Khan would formally launch the anti-government movement from Karachi on August 19, where the party would hold a public power show. He made it clear that there was no need for any backdoor contacts or closed-door talks, and everything would be in the open and public would set the narrative. However, he claimed that the government was running away from elections because they had seen the writing on the wall that they would face drubbing at the hands of Imran Khan.

He said the PTI would not tolerate any further delay because the imported government had already plunged the country into myriad problems. Fawad said the government should learn lessons from 1970 instead of conspiring to suppress the PTI.

Fawad said that the PTI strongly condemned the police torture of Shahbaz Gill, which, he noted, was unacceptable. He added what was happening to Gill was the height of injustice and the entire party stood with him. He said the PTI would take up the issue of Gill’s torture globally while expressing shock over the court’s decision to issue a notice for hearing regarding Gill’s physical remand, as they (rulers) just wanted the remand to torture him more. He explained that Gill had spoken through landline, as on the Ashura day, there were no mobile signals.

Fawad urged that the matter should be resolved at the earliest, as Gill was being targeted because he was weak and overseas Pakistani, adding that his case was similar to Nawaz Sharif, Fazlur Rehman and Maryam Safdar and others. He charged that to file cases against PTI leaders was the policy of Rana Sanaullah.

About prime minister’s offer of talks on the charter of economy, Fawad termed it a foolish idea as, he contended, the PTI could not support the destructive economic policy of the government of crooks that brought the country on the verge of economic collapse.

He lashed out at the government ‘flawed’ policies, which he feared would trigger a tsunami of unemployment, while the PTI government provided 5.5 million jobs. He claimed that the ‘imported’ government was trying to create a rift in the judiciary, adding that people did not forget the era of Rafiq Tarar, as to how the judiciary was divided. Fawad condemned all such attempts and vowed the PTI would foil all such nefarious plans to divide the judiciary. He announced that the PTI would hold the judiciary independence day and Imran Khan would address the bar associations.

about alleged gagging of the media, Fawad said the PTI would hold press freedom day on Thursday to express solidarity with journalists, facing coercion and torture at the hands of the ‘imported’ government. He said that the ‘cabal of thieves’ had made life a hell for journalists, as a private TV channel was closed for showing the activities of the PML-N strategic media cell.

Fawad said they would raise voice for journalists facing the government wrath and suffering due to inhuman and harsh policies of the government. He added that the issue would be taken up with the Amnesty International and world community, as the PTI chairman had issued special instructions to Dr. Shireen Mazari to raise the matter at the international level.

Fawad said talks with the government could only be held on a framework for early, free and transparent polls, because snap polls was the only solution to steer the country out of the current untold crises. Fawad demanded that the PPP, PMLN and JUI’s money laundering cases should be brought to the fore and Asif Ali Zardari, Nawaz Sharif and Fazlur Rehman should bring back their money kept abroad. He again criticised the Election Commission and said that the PTI had no trust in the electoral body, which worked as a subsidiary of the government.