Pakistan's Opposition unites to demand Imran Khan's resignation; goes to war with Pak Army

Pakistan's Opposition parties on Sunday announced that they will come together to form a new alliance called 'Pakistan Democratic Movement' with an aim to oust the Imran Khan-led government. A 26-point joint resolution was adopted by the All Parties Conference (APC) which was hosted by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and attended by Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz (PML-N), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) and several other parties.

'The joint Opposition will use all tactics'

Addressing a press briefing, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said the opposition is demanding the "immediate resignation of elected Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Niazi". Nationwide protests will be held from October and will include the participation of lawyers, traders, labourers, farmers and civil society.

"In the first phase, beginning October, rallies will be held in Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab. In the second phase, starting in December, huge demonstrations will take place country-wide. In the third phase, to begin in January next year, a long-march will move towards Islamabad," Rehman was quoted as saying by Geo News. "To oust the selected government, the joint opposition will use all tactics, including a vote of no confidence and resignations from the Parliament," he said.

Pakistan People's Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari asserted that the opposition is going ahead with its mission under the guidance and support of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former President Asif Ali Zardari. However, Bilawal said the leader of the movement is yet to be decided.

'Our struggle is not against Imran Khan'

Earlier, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addressed the multi-party conference through a video link and said that the struggle of the Opposition parties was not against Khan but against those who brought an "inefficient" man to power. Sharif, 70, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, has been living in London since November last year after the Lahore High Court granted him permission to go abroad for four weeks for treatment.

READ | Pakistan's ex-PM Sharif mulling political comeback after year-long gap

READ | Sikh girl missing in Pakistan's Punjab province; police file case against 'unknown abductor'

"Our struggle is not against Imran Khan. Today, our struggle is against those who installed Imran Khan and who manipulated elections (of 2018) to bring an inefficient man like him into power and thus destroyed the country, he said. He asked the powerful Army to stay away from politics and follow the Constitution and vision of the country's father Quaid-e-Azam' Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The powerful Army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its 70 plus years of existence, has hitherto wielded considerable power in the matters of security and foreign policy.

READ | BSF foils Pakistan's drug push into India; seizes shocking 'narcotics chain', arms & ammo

READ | Farooq Abdullah's 'talk to Pakistan also like China' logic in LS runs afoul of Athawale