Pakistan Opposition parties form alliance to oust Imran

Islamabad, September 21

Demanding Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s immediate resignation, the country's major Opposition parties have launched an alliance to hold a countrywide protest movement to oust his government.

A 26-point joint resolution was adopted on Sunday by the All-Parties Conference (APC), which was hosted by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and attended by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) and several other parties.

At a joint press conference after the end of the multi-party meeting, JUI-F chief Mualana Fazl ur Rehman read out the resolution and said the Opposition parties had agreed to launch an alliance named Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to organise countrywide protests against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government from October.

The resolution alleged that the Khan government had been granted “fake stability by the same establishment” that interfered with the elections to bring the incumbent rulers to power.

In an obvious reference to the powerful Pakistan army, the resolution expressed “extreme concern” over the increasing interference of the establishment in the internal affairs of the country and regarded it as a “danger to the nation’s stability and institutions”.

According to the resolution, the protests would start in phases. In the first phase, the Opposition parties will hold joint rallies in all four provinces in October. The second phase will begin in December. Finally, a “decisive” long march towards Islamabad would start in January. — PTI

26-point resolution

• Countrywide protests in phased manner starting October
• Demand for re-election and electoral reforms
• No cooperation with government in legislative process
• Collective resignation from assemblies at “appropriate time”

Army interference

• The Pakistan Democratic Movement alleged that the Imran Khan government had been granted “fake stability by the same establishment” that interfered in the elections to bring the incumbent rulers to power
• The Pakistan army has ruled the country for more than half of its over 70 years of existence and has wielded considerable power