Deadline for Shehbaz, Sanaullah’s resignations by APC ends today

The deadline given by All Parties Conference (APC) for the resignations of Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Law Minister Rana Sanaullah over Model Town carnage ends today (Sunday).

The APC was hosted by Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri.

The steering committee of the APC is likely to announce a future strategy on the matter when its members meet on Monday, reported a private news channel.

The committee was formed and empowered to convene a meeting on January 8 (tomorrow) to formulate a course of action if Sharif and Sanaullah did not resign by today.

Sources said that the option of a country-wide protest movement, including simultaneous sit-ins in different cities including Lahore, was being considered by the opposition parties. The nature of protest movement and its schedule are also likely to be announced after tomorrow’s meeting, they added.

Meanwhile, PAT Secretary General Khurram Nawaz Gandapur has initiated contacting leaders of several opposition parties for Monday’s meeting.

During the December 30 APC, a resolution was passed stating that the Model Town massacre was the worst example of state terrorism, in which the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership – including deposed premier Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz and Sanaullah – bureaucrats and police officers were involved.

At least 14 people had died and nearly 100 suffered bullet wounds during the police action carried out to remove barriers from a road near the PAT headquarters in Lahore.

Representatives of the Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Awami Muslim League, Pakistan Muslim League, Jamaat-e-Islami, Pak Sarzameen Party, Muslim Conference, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami and others including Jahangir Tareen, Mian Manzoor Wattoo, Sheikh Rashid and Liaquat Baloch were included in the 18-member steering committee.