Convener Rahbar Committee Akram Khan Durrani has said that there is consensus among the opposition parties on the issues of Prime Minister Imran Khan's resignation and demand for fresh elections without military's interference.
He said this while addressing a press conference here on Saturday following a high-level meeting of Rahbar Committee which was attended by leaders of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Pakistan Peoples Party, Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl, Awami National Party (ANP), Quami Watan Party and others.
He said that recommendations including en-bloc resignations from parliament and countrywide shutter-down strike are currently under consideration.
Besides resignations from the parliament and a countrywide strike, blocking highways, locking down the whole country at district level and all other options necessary for any movement are also being considered, Durrani said.
"In the meeting today, the prospect of calling for a countrywide shutdown and lockdown of all highways also came under discussion," he said. Durrani said that the matter of tendering collective resignations also came under discussion during the meeting.
Durrani reacted to the earlier statements of Prime Minister Khan and Defense Minister Pervaiz Khattak in which the two criticized Maulana Fazl for asking the Prime Minister to resign.
"If they say that there will be no talk on the Prime Minister's resignation, there is no need to establish contacts," he asked. "The Prime Minister and the defense minister should soften their tone," he added.
"We are political people. We have suffered all our lives. We are open to dialogue, but the government's attitude needs to be fixed first," he said, referring to Prime Minister Imran Khan's and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak's recent statements over the 'Azadi March'.
He said if any party or person takes undue advantage of the current scenario, it will be condemned. "Any irresponsible action by non-democratic forces will be against national interest. All opposition parties are unanimous on this point and oppose it," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, PML-N's Ahsan Iqbal said he was shocked to know that Prime Minister Imran Khan had waived off the mandatory requirement of passport for the visiting Sikh pilgrims from India.
PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said that the government didn't have any idea about what it is doing. "The government doesn't have any idea how to manage the economy," he said. "This government has turned Pakistan into a laughing stock with blunders such as this. We welcome Sikh pilgrims who are set to visit the country for Baba Guru Nanak's 550th birth anniversary next week, but how can an Indian citizen cross an international border and enter the Pakistani territory without the basic documents... it means you are changing the status of that territory," he added.
Meanwhile, the core committee of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has rejected the demand of Prime Minister Imran Khan's resignation by the opposition parties taking part in Azadi March. The PTI core committee's meeting was held here on Saturday. Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired the meeting which discussed Azadi March and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Emir Fazlur Rehman's deadline for resignation of the Prime Minister.
Sources said the core committee rejected the demand of the protestors for re-election and agreed that unconstitutional demands of opposition parties would not be entertained.
The members of the committee noted that opposition was allowed to hold protest in the federal capital by accepting its constitutional rights after signing an agreement. However, the core committee decided that the government will take action if marchers breach the agreement. The meeting condemned the language used against national institutions and statements regarding arrest of Prime Minister Imran Khan by Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
The meeting decided that use of foul language against national institutions would not be tolerated as these institutions work for national security.
Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, head of government's negotiation committee, briefed the meeting about talks with the opposition. The interior minister said the government would not let protestors breach the rights of citizens of the federal capital.
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