Political battles heat up in Lahore

By
Hussain
-
22
147

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend rallies in Pakistan’s political capital Lahore this weekend, demanding that President Asif Ali Zardari quit and for snap polls next year.
Appetite for election fever is heating up in the capital of Punjab, which commands the most number of seats in the national parliament.
It makes it bitterly contested political territory where opposition leaders are holding major rallies targeting the unpopular Zardari down and trying to whip up votes for the future.
Chief among them is former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, whose Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party controls Punjab and is the main opposition party at a national level, who is expected to draw large crowds at a rally on Friday.
“Join the protest rally on 28th October against costly electricity, power cuts and the worst corruption,” read banners strung up by PML-N on seemingly every nook and corner of the city.
“Come to change your destiny, come to save the country from looters and plunderers,” chant party activists down public address systems.
Disillusionment is certainly high with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that swept to power on a five-year ticket in February 2008 two months after Zardari’s wife, ex-prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated.
This week, a man committed suicide by self-immolation outside the federal parliament in the capital Islamabad.
On Wednesday, a man in his 70s died after waiting all night to collect his pension from tardy bank officials, triggering outrage in the media.
Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission accused the government of callous apathy in the face of such desperation.
“This apathy is giving way to violent behaviour in society and the people are increasingly keen to launch vociferous protests in the hope that their plight would be noticed by someone,” it said.
In Lahore, the malaise has been compounded by an unprecedented outbreak of dengue fever, infecting more than 16,000 and killing more than 248 people.
It is that anger that the PML-N are hoping to tap into by calling for early elections, which most observers now predict sometime in the autumn of 2012.
“There are only two options — seeing the anger in the people, it (the government) should quit and call fresh elections, or the people should come out and send them packing,” senior PML-N leader Zafar Ali Shah told AFP.
“Allowing this government any more time is equivalent to suicide.”
Interior minister and PPP loyalist Rehman Malik hit back, telling reporters that as the ruling party in Punjab, the PML-N was as corrupt as anyone else.
“They are not going to achieve anything from such protests. Being the government of largest province Punjab, which is 52 percent of Pakistan, they have a major part in corruption,” Malik told reporters.
Pervez Malik, a PML-N MP from Lahore, claimed 150,000 to 200,000 people were expected to join the rally on Friday and that “Zardari will have no option but to bow before the will of people and step down”.
An irritant for Sharif and Zardari is cricket hero turned politician, Imran Khan, holding his own rally on Sunday at the Minar-e-Pakistan ground where the resolution for the creation of Pakistan was adopted on March 23, 1940.
“Throw out this government and save the country,” is his campaign slogan. His Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) party boycotted the 2008 election but seems confident about its prospects.
“God willing we will have a very big political gathering on Sunday. People are coming from different cities to attend and mostly youth are supporting us,” Khan’s senior vice president Hamid Khan told AFP.
But it remains to be seen whether the public will be captivated by the political commotion.
“These rallies are not going to feed my family or save me from dengue,” shrugged Mohammad Rizwan, 25, as he cleaned cars in exchange for small change.

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22 COMMENTS

  1. hum jeeten ge lazim hay k ham he jeeten ge…. Geo Imran best of luck for Sunday rally.. Dengue brothers don't try to be innocent you are also the part of this corrupt system. we know dengue brothers why you want to dissolve this government earlier just because of senate elections.. you have no interest in the poor people problems, you broke the silence just because of senate election and want to be a ruler..

  2. Mein bhi dekho gaa tum bhi dekho gay,Jum roti sasti hogi aur mehngi hogi jaan,,Jab aisa hoga PAKISTAN..Mein bhi dekho gaa tum bhi dekho gay!!!!

    Way to to go PTI,ltes show them all that Pakistan youth has chosen it leader and we are ready face all the battles for our dignity and o safe our country..WE no more neeed Zardari,Bhutto; or Shareef's we need ONE NATION

    • what else one can expect from them….900 crore on Raiwand. Just wait for an independent NAB and all of it will be exposed.

      PTI is the only choice. !

  6. People do not see that the only way to bring change is to start from your own. IK and PTI's credibility has been always top notch and based on this they can introduce a system in every institution which would then be independant within itself. once that happens, Pakistan will be better in everyway InshaAllah!!!

  7. but the question is, is there any game plan in IK's mind if he does he should let people confide in him by telling them how he would change the system as for nawaz and shahbaz there reputation in this term has been appreciated yet they have failed to change the wadaira system.

    • come to 30th oct meeting and you will get your questions answered. For the rest of Pakistanis, we all know Ik's plan and trust him. Not to say his team will do miracles and will not make any mistakes, but that's the only hope we got!. We all are convinced that both main parties (PPP and PMLN) did litereally nothing to imporove the condition of masses. They been in power since 80's, taking turns after each other, and what we got! NOthing (oops, how I could forget motor way that was built with our money!)

      We need a change!

  11. Zardari and 40 thieves would have long gone had it not been for NS's rant for "saving" the "system" – the system put in place thru NRO. NS should accept that he has been used by Z (although Z could not have done this without US tacit advice and support) like a tissue paper basically because of his egoistic/revengeful politics. Another factor of his Z's survival of course is the US which brought him in and by making him last for as long as possible to get maximum out of him – a fact proved by our army's silence which is also subservient to US wishes and the fact that army was unable to get Rehman Malik and Hussain Haqqani removed despite trying hard for that. I doubt anything will happen unless NS has agreed to deliver to US more than what Z is doing.

    • Zardari corruption is a heap before mountainous corruption of Nawaz Sharif. It is only Punjabi middle class and commercial interests who r supporting Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif so that monopoly of Punjab is established in Pakistan. This has been done by Punjabi establishment since 1947. To suppress Bangali majority Punjabi establishment halted constitution-making until 1956. Murder of Liaqat Ali Khan, murder of ZulfikarAliBhutto, murder of BenazirBhutto, and now wish-mongering for murder of Zardari by falsely charging him with corruption. Punjabi middle classes and establishment hv monopolized and they defame leadership of smaller provinces for this purpose. Punjabi always branded Bagali leadership as corrupt and now they brand Sindhi leadership as corrupt just to keep up their monopoly.

  12. only slogans. Paksitanis are good at that and this is what PTI is doing. No plan…making people fool like others.

    • If you haven’t heard about PTI plan until now, it's a must for you to attend Oct 30 meeting. I promise IK will explain to you his agenda and plan in as simple terms as possible.

      Now, will you really care to show up (I hope I am wrong, but the reality is that people like you do not give a dame about this country and it's people other wise you would have taken some initiative to educate yourself about the PTI's manifesto. For you, it's easy to come up with an idiotic statement on a free public forum, but can’t play any constructive role in nation building. Sorry, you don't represent us – majority of Pakistanis!)

      • Majority! Illussion.

        Where were this gentleman when Musharraf was at the helm of the affairs? Was not he an MNA and doing bargains for premiership? Did not he support referendum?

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