SWABI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said here at a party convention on Friday that use of state institutions by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government for victimising rivals and targeting political opponents was against the principles of democracy and norms of governance.

The PML-N convention was held at the government high school ground which was attended by party’s central and provincial leaders and workers from periphery districts.

The objective of the gathering was to enlist the workers’ support keeping in view the rising political temperature in the country.

The party leaders said the PTI government would not be able to survive the campaign of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that started from Gujranwala and was planned to finally reach Islamabad, culminating in overthrowing the “selected” government.

Referring to Karachi episode, Khaqan Abbasi said the country’s Constitution was violated because the federal government targeted Sindh province and threatened its chief minister that his government would be dismissed if a case was not registered against retired Captain Safdar.

“Is this politics? Is this democracy and democratic government? Is this a way to use the state institutions? In fact, the government flagrantly violated all principles of rule of law to deal with opposition,” he remarked.

PML-N leaders say govt will not be able to survive PDM’s drive

He said that 2018 elections were manipulated and that was the reason the masses were in hot waters today.

“No one would be allowed to make decision behind closed doors,” Mr Abbasi said and added that only people had the right to decide who would be the prime minister and who would win.

He came down hard on National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, saying if he could not run the assembly according to the Constitution then he should resign.

He alleged that Mr Qaiser did not allow the assembly members to talk on inflation and welfare of the people.

He said that during last over two years every institution of the country had been weakened to the core and fresh free and transparent election was the only way to take the country out of the crises.

PML-N general secretary Ahsan Iqbal said when Nawaz Sharif assumed power after 2013 election the country’s economic situation was feeble, terrorism was its peak and the people would face prolonged power outages, but the PML-N government resolved all these issues during its constitutional tenure.

“We initiated power projects and brought loadshedding to zero, formulated Nation Action Plan and eradicated the menace of terrorism from the country and credit for all these efforts goes to Nawaz Sharif,” he said.

“The prime minister is responsible for the entire mess prevailing in the country,” he said and alleged that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project was being rolled back by Imran Khan under an international conspiracy.

He said the prime minister was responsible for the rising prices of commodities and making life miserable for the people.

PML-N provincial president Amir Muqam, Javed Murtaza Abbasi, Shiraz Khan and other leaders said that time had arrived to get rid of the PTI government.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2020