LAHORE: PPP Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira has said that the present government will have to be sent packing through the Azadi March led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, Kaira said all the opposition parties were unanimous on the march and their united stand would oust the government. Chaudhry Manzoor, Aslam Gill, Hassan Murtaza, Malik Usman and others were also present.

Mr Kaira said the PPP’s executive committee in Punjab discussed various issues, including the Maulana’s march, which the body decided to fully join. He lamented that a party which had claimed while on opposition benches that it would take the country to new heights of development and prosperity, had hurt the national economy. Businessmen, doctors, working class, all were protesting against the “incompetent” government.

The State Bank of Pakistan is saying that interest rates could not be lowered whereas federal ministers were asking people not to look towards the government for jobs as it was instead going to wrap up several departments.

Referring to media reports, Kaira said former president Asif Zardari’s health was not in a good shape, but the government was not providing him the required treatment. He warned that if the rulers did not shift the incarcerated PPP leader to hospital, party workers would be forced to take to the street.

He regretted that only the PPP and PML-N leadership was being focused by the National Accountability Bureau under its so-called accountability process, while those who chose to join the PTI were roaming free though corruption cases were registered against them also. He claimed that even those appointed to various offices by the government were saying they could not work because of increasing political interference.

Meanwhile, the youth wing of the party held a candlelit vigil at Charing Cross on The Mall for the victims of the 2007 Karsaz tragedy in which several PPP workers were killed or maimed in Karachi.

Senior party leader Aitzaz Ahsan said that Benazir Bhutto was the target of the terrorist attack but she refused to budge and continued leading the rally.

Barrister Amir Hasan and others also spoke.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2019