Gujranwala power show: PDM leaders tell PM Imran Khan to count his days in power
October 17, 2020
GUJRANWALA: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday night, telling him that his government's time was up.
Addressing a gathering of thousands at the venue, Maryam Nawaz said that she was fighting for the businesses that had been destroyed during the incumbent government's tenure and the journalists who were being censored.
"People [journalists] who stood with the truth were fired from their jobs," she said. "I have come to present the case of the Lady Health Workers as well before you, who are languishing on the roads of Islamabad."
In a nutshell
- Only masses have right to elect and oust governments: Maryam
- I'm sure now they know what a mafia really is: Maryam
- Media suppressed which is why no one talks about government's corruption: Maryam
- Selectors and selected will have to come on our page or they will have to go: Bilawal
- Imran's solution to COVID-19, locusts and inflation is Tiger Force: Bilawal
- No one asks about Aleema Khan and PM Imran Khan's corruption: Bilawal
- Movement will not end till supremacy of Constitution is not established: Fazl
- Fake rulers are about to meet their fate: Fazl
- Movement has begun, will not stop now, warns Fazl
Maryam said no one had the right to oust elected representatives of the people. "It is you [masses] who should form governments and oust them as well," she said.
Read more: Giving NRO is easy, but it is the path to destruction: PM Imran Khan
Referring to the Panama leaks court judgement, the PML-N vice president said that those who referred to the Sharif family as a "Sicilian Mafia" now knew what the term mafia means.
"All they could find from Nawaz Sharif's corruption was the Iqamah," she said. "They used to refer to us as the Sicilian Mafia, I'm sure now they know what a mafia really is," said Maryam.
Blaming the government for skyrocketing prices of food items, she said that it was a tactic of the PTI government to ensure food items disappeared from the market. When their prices increase, the food items return to the market, she said.
"Today you have suppressed the media which is why no one talks about your corruption," she said, referring to PM Imran Khan.
'Selectors and selected will have to come on our page now'
After Maryam concluded her speech, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari took the stage to lash out at PM Imran Khan and his government, saying that the cricketer-turned-politician did not have any solution to the problems of the poor.
"Imran's solution to inflation is Tiger Force," he said. "His solution to locusts is the Tiger Force. His solution to COVID-19 is the Tiger Force," Bilawal added, mocking the premier's volunteer force. "This is the solution he has to your problems."
Referring to PM Imran Khan's statement that the civilian government and the military leadership were on the same page, Bilawal said that "the selectors and the selected" will have to come on the Opposition's page otherwise they will have to go.
Read more: PDM's first anti-govt jalsa in Gujranwala draws in thousands
The PPP chairman said that PM Imran Khan had promised, before he secured victory in the elections, to provide 5 million homes to the poor. He said that not a single person had been provided a home since the past two years that the government had been in power.
"He promised to end corruption but instead, broke all records of corruption," said Bilawal. "Akbar S Babar [PTI founding member] says there is evidence his party has been funded from India but no one takes notice. "BRT is the most expensive project but no one takes notice," he added.
Targeting the government for not holding people accountable across-the-board, Bilawal lamented how Zardari, Faryal Talpur and Maryam Nawaz were sent to jail on mere allegations of corruption. "But if allegations are levelled at Imran and Aleema baji, no one asks questions about them," he said.
'Fake rulers about to meet their fate'
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the PDM's president, took the stage last, criticising the government and warning that it's time is up.
"Fake rulers are about to meet their fate," he said. "The sun of democracy is about to rise soon. If you remain undaunted, this government will not see the month of December," added the JUI-F chief.
The PDM president said that the anti-government movement had begun and now, a "sea of people" will rise in Karachi, Multan, Lahore and Peshawar in the coming days.
Referring to the prime minister walking out without delivering a speech in the parliament on Friday, Fazl said that all it took was 15 parliamentarians to "scare away" PM Imran from the assembly.
"He boasts about having the majority in the parliament. Today, 15 members of the Opposition scared off the fake prime minister from the parliament," said Fazl.
He lashed out at the government, blaming it for resorting to "political vendetta" in the name of holding the corrupt accountable. "Today, all political forces are standing on one platform," he said.
Telling the public that it will have to come out to seek their rights, Fazl said that the PDM wanted to "hand back Pakistan's politics back to the people".
"Voting is the right of the people of Pakistan. This right has been stolen, it has been robbed," he said. "We want to restore this right to the people of Pakistan. They will have to come out [and seek it]," he said.
Fazl cited the example of the Soviet Union, adding that it was "eliminated from the world's map" due to its deteriorating economic situation. "Pakistan is not as strong [as the Soviet Union] that it will be able to maintain its existence [if such a scenario presents itself]," he added.
The JUI-F chief said that everyone knew who was responsible for stoking sectarian conflicts. He said that the JUI-F had always promoted religious harmony, calling on all parties to remain united. "All schools of thought have talked about harmony," he said.
"Our movement has begun, it will not stop now," he said. "Our movement will only come to an end when the supremacy of the Constitution is established."
