Islamabad:
Despite frequent cancellations of the place, the opposition parties managed to convene and conclude his two -day multipartite conference on Thursday, calling for the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law, the fresh “fairs”, the release of political prisoners and the end of what it calls a repression of the government on dissent.
The obstacles to hold the conference of opposition parties were faced with its first challenge before the conference could not start, because the organizers had alleged that the local administration of twin cities did not allow them to hold the conference until the end of the ICC 2025 champions trophy.
The obstacles continued until the end of the conference, but the blockage could not silence the opposition. On Thursday, the opposition alliance-Trehreek-E-Tahaffuz-e-Ayeen-E-Pakistan (TTAP)-carried out its big conference, some opposition members set the doors to scale while others made their way in a local hotel after the authorities blocked the event.
To be denied places in twin cities due to security arrangements for the cricket tournament earlier, the TTAP had promised to hold the conference, which is in May. He finally did it and held the event in the hotel reception area.
Earlier, head of the newly registered political party, Awam Pakistan, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, President of the Pachtunkhwa Mill Awami, Sahibzada Hamid Raza de Sunni Ittehad Council and opposition leader in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, Salman Akamram among Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf, among others, he was prevented from entering the room. Nevertheless, they managed to participate and held the event.
The two -day opposition gathering, aimed at combating the alleged constitutional violations, human rights violations and political instability, was marred by accusations that the government has put pressure on the administration of the place to revoke the authorization for its last session. The government side would have denied the accusations.
The conference culminated with a declaration describing a series of requests, in particular the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law as the only solution to the crises of Pakistan.
TTAP leaders blamed the general elections of February 8, which, according to them, were faked, for dominant political, economic and social disorders.
They also declared that the current parliament lacked moral, political and legal legitimacy. The other requests included the reversal of the amendments which were considered contrary to the Constitution, the immediate release of all political prisoners and the abolition of the law on the prevention of electronic crimes (PECA) which, according to opposition leaders, are used to stifle dissent.
The declaration also underlined the urgent need to deal with grievances related to the distribution of water resources among the federative units under the 1991 water agreement, warning that not doing so could exacerbate instability.
The opposition leaders stressed that the restoration of Pakistan depends on the free, transparent and fair elections. They also called for a unified national strategy to stabilize the country and embarked on a continuous struggle until their requests are satisfied.
The opposition has promised to continue its collective political efforts, claiming that only adhesion to constitutional principles can remove Pakistan from its current crisis.
In their speeches, opposition leaders were unleashed in the government and its policies, claiming that the power alliance would have failed in public mandate and that is why the country did not progress.
Na opposition head Omar Ayub said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohin Naqvi should award the “Duffer Award” to the person who suggested that the opposition should be denied a conference.
Ayub said the country cannot progress by publishing advertisements in newspapers. He declared that the opposition had gathered for the supremacy of the Constitution and ensuring that the rule of law prevails in the country.
AWAM Pakistan’s secretary general Miftah Ismail said it was not a policy where only family members become Prime Minister or occupy key positions, claiming that the government had not respected the law and the Constitution and the Assembly are flooded with elected people via form 47.
Ismail, who had been Minister of Finance within the PML-N government, said that instability prevails as long as the political confrontation continues. He questioned the authorities’ decision to block 100 or more people to discuss key issues in a closed room, saying that they ask why people protest.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja said that different parties stopped coming to power with the help of powerful neighborhoods, saying that many errors had been made in the past, but do not fall in the past now and let’s go ahead to meet the challenges. Raja said that the sacredness of the houses had been raped, saying that it was not in politics but a question of decency.
On February 8, he reiterated that the rights of the people were stolen, warning that the government cannot run like that. He urged people to go out, saying that if we raise our voices together, there will be no obstacle. He guaranteed that the founder imprisoned from the PTI, Imran Khan, will not hit, saying that if he wanted to go abroad, he could have ensured the opportunity a long time ago.
Achakzai said that the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior should be reserved in the incident of November 26, adding that the security forces should work in a framework that is followed around the world. He urged political parties to judge that they would stop seeking help from powerful stakeholders to create space.
Achakzai said that the opposition would make its own assembly, the president of which will be the head of the PTI Asad Qaiser, saying that if the outgoing assembly ends their membership, they would dispute such decisions before the courts. He said that there would be no conferences with the government, saying that talks will only be held with the establishment and that this too for having given them a safe passage to stop interfere in politics. He said that the only way to save the country was to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution.
The president of the PTI, lawyer Gohar Khan, said that PTI had faced what the opposition management was confronted when he entered the hotel on Thursday. He demanded Snap polls, saying that the mandate of a government is five years old, but new elections can be held for the dominant situation in the country. He urged that it was time to stand on the right side of history.
Gohar said Imran Khan believed in public power and that’s why he was in prison. He recalled that PTI was not allowed to hold conventions during the general elections. Currently, former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said there was no constitution in the country, claiming that the citizens’ contract with the State had been dismissed and that freedom of expression was abolished after the PECA amendments.
The chief of Jamaat-E-Islami, Liaquat Baloch, said that we must decide that the Constitution should be maintained with any force, adding that we must fight for the independence of the courts and that the democratic force must refuse to become a tool of the establishment.
Senator of Jui-F, Kamran Murtaza, said that the government had contributed to the success of the conference by blocking access and refusing places. He would have specified that the JUI-F was not a signatory of the declaration of the opposition parties as a party, the party attended the conference only as an observer.
