MARDAN: Leaders of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) pledged on Wednesday that they would carry on their anti-government agitation till the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government was sent home.

They were speaking at a public meeting of the PDM on Mardan-Nowshera road near Mardan Sugar Mills. Leaders of opposition parties along with their supporters reached the venue of the public meeting in motor rallies which passed through various areas and bazaars after starting from different parts of Mardan district.

In their addresses, the opposition leaders criticised what they called poor governance and anti-people policies of the PTI government.

PDM president Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that the PTI government had ruined national economy. “Poor countrymen are now unable to buy items of daily use owing to sky-rocketing prices,” he added.

Fazl says Imran has admitted to incompetence

He said that the entire nation was suffering from adverse results of the poor policies of the government.

The PDM chief said that they had been saying that the PTI government was ineligible and incompetent, and now he (Prime Minister Imran Khan) himself had admitted to his incompetency and confessed that he had an incompetent team.

Mr Fazl said that Pakistan was now alone in the region due to flawed foreign policy which was evident from the fact that “Saudi Arab no more has good relations with the country”.

He said that the PTI government had asked China to give it a loan to enable it to repay the money it had borrowed from Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Maryam Nawaz said that “selected prime” minister Imran Khan had claimed before coming to power that he had a capable and well prepared team, but now he was saying that he had assumed power without preparations.

She said that Mr Khan was now saying that he was unaware of circular debt before coming to power.

She said that Mr Khan was “well-prepared for corruption of Rs400 billion in sugar scandal, Rs225bn in flour scandal and Rs122bn in LNG embezzlement, but he had no preparation to give millions of jobs to countrymen.

Ms Nawaz said that Mr Khan was well-prepared to keep his blue-eyed persons at key government posts but he had no preparation to provide health facilities to the people.

Similarly, Ms Nawaz said, Mr Khan had no preparation for foreign policy but he was “well-prepared to hand over Kashmir to India”.

She alleged that Mr Khan had “changed the entire police of Punjab province with the purpose to take back a plot of his brother-in-law from rivals”.

“The selected prime minister has sent daughters and sisters of his political rivals behind the bars, she alleged.

Awami National Party leader Ameer Haider Khan Hoti also criticised the policies of the PTI government and pledged to oust the government with the help of the masses.

He said that the PTI government had failed to deliver and Imran Khan had not fulfilled any promise he had made with the people before the last general elections.

Qaumi Watan Party leader Sikandar Sherpao said that the country was at the verge of bankruptcy due to wrong and poor policies of the PTI government.

Other leaders of opposition parties also addressed the public gathering and lashed at the government for bad governance.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2020