LAHORE: Two opposition stalwarts -- Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Sheikh Rashid -- on Monday sprang into action in a bid to woo three religious parties for participation in the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Islamabad lockdown plan for Nov 2.
Mr Elahi is wooing the support of Sunni Itihad Council (SIC) and Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), while Mr Rashid has been tasked to take Sunni Tahreek on board for Nov 2 showdown with Nawaz government.
“Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi has contacted the leaderships of SIC and MWM and both parties are likely to be part of Nov 2 protest,” PML-Q Punjab organising committee head Basharat Raja told Dawn on Tuesday.
Raja said although the PPP was not on board, the opposition was trying to take as many other parties along to the protest as they could to put maximum pressure on the government to bring it to its knees on Panama Leaks issue.
Regarding preparation of the PML-Q, Basharat Raja said the party workers were being mobilised across the province and they would reach Islamabad from every district.
“A strategy in this regard will be finalised during a meeting of PML-Q legislators, district office-bearers and ticket holders with Mr Ealhi in the chair on Thursday at the Muslim League House, Lahore,” he added.
To a question about the late decision of the PML-Q to join in the PTI’s plan to shut down the capital over Panama issue, Mr Raja said given the government’s rigid stance of doing nothing to allow a probe into the matter, the PML-Q decided to join Imran Khan’s endeavour.
The former law minister warned the government against resorting to a crackdown on political workers as it was their democratic right to protest.
According to Pervaiz Elahi, the objective of the Islamabad protest was to rid the country of “monarchy and a corrupt system”.
Meanwhile, SIC chief Sahibza Hamid Raza told Dawn that both Mr Elahi and PTI Vice-Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi had invited the party to Nov 2 protest in Islamabad. “We have almost completed consultation with the party leaders and we have decided in principle to join the protest. We will announce this in a press conference in a couple of days. The SIC workers from across the country will be mobilised for Islamabad lockdown,” Mr Raza said.
MWM spokesman Mazahir Shigri said Mr Elahi had contacted its central deputy secretary general Syed Nasir Sherazi, asking for the party’s participation in the protest. “MWM chief Raja Nasir Abbas will return from abroad in a couple of days and take a final decision after personally meeting with Mr Elahi,” he said, adding the MWM considered PTI-led opposition protest justified as the premier should present himself for accountability.
Sunni Tahreek spokesman Nawaz Qadri said Sheikh Rashid contacted its senior leader Shahid Ghauri and any decision would be taken after consulting other senior party leaders.
Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2016
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