–Bilawal to lead rallies in the second phase
LAHORE: When all the opposition parties are demanding resignation of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the wake of Panama Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report constituted by the Supreme Court to investigate the financial irregularities and money laundering of the ruling Sharif family, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to come on roads to put pressure on Nawaz Sharif to resign from the office.
According to the details, PPP, on Sunday, is going to hold protest rallies in all the divisional headquarters of central Punjab in the first stage to press for the demand of the prime minister’s resignation. The PM is, so far, adamant not to quit his office.
Keeping in view the rising political temperature of the country, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spent his last few days in Islamabad and chaired a meeting with the executive body of PPP central Punjab and tasked its president Qamar Zaman Kaira to arrange protest rallies in every divisional headquarter of the central Punjab. It has been learnt that Bilawal himself will lead some rallies in the second stage, during the first week of August, of the PPP’s ‘Go Nawaz, Go’ campaign.
Talking to Pakistan Today, PPP’s Central Punjab Information Secretary Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that the protest rallies will be held in Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Sahiwal and Rawalpindi divisions on this Sunday.
“Local leadership from these divisions will address the participants and I will participate in the rally of Rawalpindi division,” Khokhar said, who originally hails from the federal capital. Moreover, the Lahore chapter of PPP is also prepared to come on roads as the Lahore’s rally will start from Press Club and it would be concluded at Aiwan-e-Iqbal. Haji Aziz-u-Rehman Chann, PPP’s Lahore chapter president, told this scribe that he will be leading the rally, while it will also be addressed by regional President Qamar Zaman Kaira. “No, Bilawal will not participate in these rallies but these rallies are being organised on his direction,” Chann said, when asked about the participation of party’s chairman.
It is worth mentioning here that earlier the PPP was against the interference of the judiciary in the Panama Leaks and therefore the party did not become a petitioner in the case but nowadays it can be seen that PPP’s leadership, including Qamar Zaman Kaira and Sherry Rehman, attended the hearings of Panama Leaks quite often in the Supreme Court.
“There was a strong feeling within the party that the PTI is rapidly becoming the main party of opposition in the wake of Panama Leaks so we realised that we needed something to remain in the limelight. These protest rallies have been planned to remain in the limelight in the whole scenario of Panama Leaks as elections are inching closer and the next election will revolve around the issue of Panama Leaks,” a PPP leader told this scribe on the condition of anonymity.
