LAHORE: The PPP pledges to go solo against the government if other opposition parties will not join it in the move aimed at what it says ousting the failed government that has destroyed economy.

PPP South Punjab president Makhdoom Ahmed Mahmood and chief coordinator Abdul Qadir Shaheen said in a statement here on Friday that even if the opposition parties were not ready for the anti-government drive, their party would launch the movement alone. They recalled that Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had been trying from day one to unite the opposition to raise a joint voice against the government’s anti-masses policies.

A multi-party conference was also held even during coronavirus lockdown besides taking other measures to assemble the opposition parties on a single platform, they said. Referring to the much delayed MPC apparently because of the PML-N top leadership’s reluctance to attend the event, they hoped that the gathering would be held soon after Ashura. But, they said, even if there’s no MPC, the PPP would not remain silent on the “destruction” being caused by the government in every sector.

They said Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had intensified his mass-contact drive in the last two years and also held train marches and several public meetings and would continue his role in mobilising the people against the government. They defended the party decision of earlier resisting the FATF-related legislation and then endorsing it. They argued that if Pakistan went from gray list to black list, it would be a loss to the country.

They said the government accepted their suggested amendments and only then the FATF bill was passed. Referring to the two-year performance of the government, they said it had completed the U-turn century in two years. Instead of improving good governance and the national economy, time had been wasted in retaliation against political opponents, they regretted.

The party leaders further alleged that Imran Khan had mortgaged Pakistan to the IMF for a few billion rupees in loans. But due to its poor economic policies, hundreds of billions of rupees had flowed out of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, they alleged.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2020