The opposition requires the end of the “engineering policy”

On Thursday, the conference of all opposition parties (APC) began in Islamabad, the senior political leaders called for the restoration of democracy, to constitutional supremacy and the end of what they described as an “ engineering policy ” and a “judicial victimization”.

With a firm call to restore democracy and maintain the will of the people, the president of the PTI, lawyer Gohar Ali Khan, said that no political solution could succeed unless the voice and the vote of the citizens are respected.

“Some are trying to put an end to democracy, but democracy will continue. We will bring constitutional supremacy, release the judiciary and repeal the 26th amendment,” said the president of the PTI, while the opposition APC launched under the banner of the opposition alliance of Tehreek Tahafuz Ayin-E-Pakistan.

Learn more: Omar Ayub de Pti, Shibli Faraz condemned up to 10 years in the cases of May 9

The APC of TTAP has brought together leaders of large opposition groups, notably PTI, PKMAP, former senators, legal experts and votes of civil society. Initially planned in a hotel in Islamabad, the place was transferred to the Tarlai farm of former Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar after the hotel suddenly canceled the reservation.

Speaking at the conference, the opposition leaders expressed deep concern about what they described as a collapse of constitutional order, political victimization and the erosion of civil authority. The conference also unanimously sentenced new prison terms pronounced to PTI leaders, qualifying them as politically motivation.

The leaders of the TTAP demanded the formation of a neutral electoral commission, the restoration of judicial independence and the end of what they called a “scripted” political system which would have been imposed by non -elected forces.

PKMAP & TTAP chief, Mehmood Khan Achakzai, denounced the repeated violations of the Constitution by powerful districts, recalling that a former dictator had rejected the founding document of the country as a simple document. “States do not work on bullets or batons. They are governed by social contracts; and our constitution is this contract,” he said.

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Achakzai called on all judges, generals, lawyers, academics and citizens who believe in constitutional supremacy to guide the movement, affirming that the alliance did not seek to fight anyone but will not compromise on the basic democratic principles.

He had previously pointed out that the TTAP was not trained at the request of any institution, adding that the Alliance will continue its struggle until there is a neutral electoral commission, parliamentary sovereignty and a constitutional rule.

Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar condemned the new wave of convictions transmitted to PTI leaders. “Today, we will remember a dark day in the history of Pakistan,” he said, noting that the opposition leaders of the National Assembly, the Senate and the Punjab Assembly were all condemned in a single day alongside many AMPs, AMPs and PTI workers.

While the news broke out at the conference of an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad sentenced several PTI legislators to 10 years in prison, TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmad, announced that the APC had adopted a resolution condemning the verdicts.

The resolution specifically appointed the head of the opposition of the National Assembly, Omar Ayub, the opposition chief of the Senate Shibli Faraz, the president of the council of Sunni Ittehad, Sahibzada Hamid Raza, as a victim of what she called politically motivated and unjust sanctions.

The veteran politician Javed Hashmi said that despite the efforts of the PTI’s touch by refusing an electoral symbol, the public has always asked for the founder of the PTI, Imran Khan, to vote for him. “Now they want to keep it in prison; it’s a farce,” he said.

Hashmi added that true national unity would only come from winning hearts, not shooting balls and underlined Gwadar’s unexploited income potential as proof that the country had enough resources to prosper if it is rightly governed.

The former Balutchistan, Lashkari Raisani, called for a “commission of truth and justice” to investigate those responsible for the weakening of the Constitution. “Let this session decide if we will speak with the establishment or all political parties will decide the future inside or outside the dummy parliament,” he asked, urging a collective decision on the fact that Pakistan goes forward as a real parliamentary democracy or will remain a state centered on power.

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The president of Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM), Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, echoes these concerns, declaring that the Constitution had been actually suspended and that the pillars of the state had collapsed. “People no longer trust this system. Only the rule of law and the revival of the Constitution can save Pakistan from this crisis,” he said.

The former senator of JI, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, said that the electoral commission had become a tool from the establishment, and that the current parliament was nothing more than a scripted show. “Those who won are in prison. Those who lost have filled the seats in the name of democracy,” he said.

The conference continues on Friday with more sessions which should describe a political roadmap for democratic catering and electoral reforms, because TTAP positions itself as an increasing force against what it calls an unconstitutional interference in political affairs.