Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the PDM opposition alliance’s final power show in Lahore, during which he accused his successor Imran Khan for the countrys “prevailing woes”, the media reported on Monday.
Despite the Pakistan government’s ban on holding public rallies in the wake of the unabated Covid-19 pandemic, the Pakistan Democratic Movement held the power show, dubbed as ‘first phase’ on Sunday at the city’s Minar-i-Pakistan, reports The Express Tribune.
Sharif addressed the rally via video-link from London, where he has been residing since last year for medical treatment.
In his speech, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo said that Khan was not only responsible for the country’s situation but also those who brought him into power.
“They pushed the country into unprecedented inflation and unemployment,” the ousted premier said, adding that Khan’s suppoerters were minting money out of wheat and sugar crisis.
He further said that if the incumbent “fake regime” continues to be in former, it will further “jeopardise the country’s security”.
“Time has come to get freedom from this selected set-up,” Sharif said, adding the country can never prosper without a change in system and under “hijacked democracy”, The Express Tribune reported.
Other opposition leaders who addressed the rally were PDM convener and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples’ Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, among others.
Sunday’s rally comes five days after the PDM announced on December 8 that all parliamentarians belonging to its constituent parties would submit their resignations from the national and provincial assemblies December 31 in a last-ditch attempt against the incumbent Imran Khan-led government.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) also announced that by-elections would be held if the National Assembly speaker accepted the resignations of the opposition lawmakers from the lower house of parliament.
The PDM has been holding public rallies across Pakistan without permission from district authorities to hold them in the wake of the current Covid-19 situation.
The five earlier PDM rallies were held on October 16 in Gujranwala, October 19 in Karachi, October 25 in Quetta, November 22 in Peshawar and November 30 in Multan.
–IANS
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