LAHORE, July 8: The All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) may give a call for a ‘big rally’ in Islamabad where the government will be given a deadline to restore the deposed judges, says Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan.

The APDM steering committee is meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday (today) to decide how to provide a joint platform to all the forces wishing for an independent judiciary and take joint decisions on the issue.

“There should be a joint leadership, joint decisions and joint strategy instead of allowing the lawyers to go alone,” says Khan, whose party is a member of the APDM, while talking to Dawn here on Tuesday.

“The decision is necessary in view of the anti-climax of the long march led by the lawyers on June 13.”

Khan asserted that the APDM had sacrificed a lot by not taking part in the polls and would not like to see it go waste by silently watching PPP co-chairperson Asif Zardari “staging a drama” on the judges’ issue.

Asked how did the PTI see its boycott decision six months after the polls, he said the decision was justified as by taking part in the electoral exercise they would have accepted the “unconstitutional” and “illegal” steps of Gen Musharraf under the doctrine of necessity.

He said had the issues of judges and legality of Gen Musharraf for becoming a presidential candidate been settled before the polls, as was demanded by the APDM, the parties would have contested the polls on their economic manifestos and Musharraf-Shaukat Aziz policies would not have continued despite the change in the government.

“Where are the five Es (the promises made by the PPP in its manifesto about employment, energy, education, environment and equality) now,” he asked referring to the rising graph of price-hike and unemployment.

Answering a question about the effect of oil prices on the economy, he said masses must be the first concern for the government which, like Europe’s soup kitchens, should have opened “Benazir langar (meal)” instead of Benazir card scheme.Criticising the first budget of the PPP government, the PTI chairman said it should have been revolutionary in that all expenditures, including the defence spending, should have been slashed by 50 per cent while real estate, stocks and luxuries businesses should have been heavily taxed.

Replying to a query about the recent wave of bomb blasts, he said the victims of US attacks in tribal areas and of Lal Masjid operation had given time to the PPP government to provide them justice.

He said Mr Zardari had promised to solve the Waziristan issue through talks but he went ahead with another military operation.

Underlining the need for a free judiciary, Khan said had the people confidence in courts the victims would have sought justice through the judicial system instead of taking the law into their own hands by resorting to suicide bombings.

About the government’s determination to introduce reforms in religious seminaries by registering them and changing their syllabus to conform to modern-day needs, he said why the seminaries were being singled out.

Referring to the class-based education system in the country, he said why the government was not harmonizing syllabus of all public and private sector, English and Urdu medium educational institutions.

He said attributing the suicide bombings as religious war would be wrong for most of those involved in 9/11 and other world suicide attacks were highly educated from European institutions.