NOWSHERA: Awami National Party central general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that government should show seriousness regarding holding talks with opposition parties.

Talking to journalists after attending a meeting of party district council in Manki Sharif, he said that government should accept that protest was right of opposition. He said that government should remove all hurdles to Azadi March and accept constitutional and democratic rights of opposition.

The ANP leader said that the role of Federal Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak was known but opposition was still showing seriousness in holding talks with the government.

He said that ANP would participant in Azadi March. He said ANP would launch a protest movement if its workers were baton charged. If Maulana Fazlur Rehman was arrested, then Asfandyar Wali Khan would lead the march, he added.

Mian Iftikhar says protest is constitutional right of parties

Mr Hussain said that government should talk openheartedly to the opposition parties otherwise no headway could be made. “Pervez Khattak is leading a committee on rigging in the polls but he has failed to call even a single meeting of the panel in the whole year,” he added.

The ANP leader said that Islamabad administration arrested two workers of JUI-F and imposed Section 144 despite the fact that protest was right of opposition parties.

He said that the whole country would be locked down if government did not allow the opposition parties to march towards Islamabad.

He said that government itself blocked the whole country by placing containers at different places. He said that people could see the wrong planning of the government.

The ANP leader said that instead of various reservations, Rehbar Committee forwarded recommendations to government to allow Azadi March so that next step regarding negotiations could be taken.

He said that government should reply properly to hold talks with the leaders of opposition parties.

Mr Hussain said that opposition parties agreed on four points that were presented to the government.

He said that they demanded holding of Azadi March, resignation of the prime minister, holding new general elections in the country and working of every institution in its constitutional limits.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2019