ISLAMABAD: Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani and Leader of Opposition in National Assembly Khursheed Shah on Monday lashed out at the federal government for its inability to clear Faizabad Interchange of Tehreek Labaik’s protesters.
Raza Rabbani expressed displeasure at the state’s helplessness in tackling the sit-in led by the Tehreek Labaik —a religious group— and said that the capital has been locked down for the past 14 days but no one in the government seems to care.
Urging for joint-front to resist the onslaught of radical elements, he said, “Pakistan’s masses, political workers, journalists and institutions will have to come together on the same page and decide that ‘warlord-ism’ will not be tolerated.”
FAIZABAD SIT-IN POINTS TOWARDS GOVT’S IMPOTENCY: Questioning the writ of the government, Khursheed Shah said that continued Faizabad protest proves that the government is weak and has lost its writ.
Speaking to the journalists, Shah lamented that it was tragic how due to a few people the whole city had come to a standstill, causing great distress to millions of people living and commuting to Islamabad.
He further said that around two million people live in Islamabad and people from all over the world visit the city; and that the government should quit if action cannot be taken against these protesters.
Responding to a question, he said that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif should respect the institutions of the country and that it wasn’t the judiciary but the Nawaz government which permitted former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf to leave the country.
He said that just like the PPP completed its five-year tenure, he wanted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-government to complete its tenure as well.