ISLAMABAD: After nearly four-hour long deliberations, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Wednesday came out with a new strategy of making efforts to bring an in-house change by “putting pressure on the allies and facilitators” of the government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). And the party has set a three-month deadline for it.

“We want to bring change [in the government] by putting pressure in a democratic way on the allies of the government. If our efforts do not succeed by the end of this year and the government’s allies and facilitators do not agree, then our next stance will be extreme and we will lodge a protest in a democratic way,” declared a tired-looking PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during a news conference at around midnight after presiding over a meeting of the party’s core committee at Zardari House.

He gave no explanation either as to how the PPP would pressurise the government allies which include the MQM, PML-Q and BNP-Mengal.

In response to a question, Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he had already launched an anti-government movement and the party would soon announce a schedule of public meetings and protests to be held in different cities. He said the final movement would start from Sindh and enter Punjab from south.

In reply to a question, he ruled out the possibility of joining the long march being planned by the JUI-F for next month.

“I do not want to do politics of dharna. I want to do politics of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto,” he said.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari said he had already announced his party’s “moral support” for the JUI-F’s long march. Moreover, he said, he would send party members to JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Reh­man to hold discussion on the mode of protest and to ask him to include at least six demands of the PPP in the charter.

He said how he could believe that the military leadership would not play the same role which it had played during the PNA (Pakistan National Alliance) movement that led to the imposition of martial law in the 1970s.

Presenting the demands, he said the PPP wanted to ensure supremacy of the Constitution and democracy, upholding of the 18th Amendment, reforms in the accountability process to ensure across-the-board account­ability, setting up of a constitutional court in line with the Charter of Democracy signed between the PPP and PML-N in May 2006, repeal of the 19th Amendment and reforms in Article 184(3) that allows judges to take suo motu action and protection of the right of the freedom of speech and press.

The PPP chairman condemned the arrest of party stalwart and MNA Syed Khursheed Shah by NAB.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2019