PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) took out a rally dubbed the “Mehngai March” in district Mardan on Wednesday despite being refused permission to hold a public gathering by the local administration, citing an exponential rise in the coronavirus cases.

The caravan of PDM chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, as well as those of PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz, PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani and ANP leaders converged on Nowshera Road where the opposition leaders addressed the people.

The participants gathered at the Gaju Baba Khan flyover. All roads surrounding the venue were closed for traffic while 1,600 policemen had been deputed to ensure security. This was the first rally the 11-party opposition alliance staged in district Mardan.

In his keynote speech, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that “fake rulers” had been imposed on the country, and “we will go to Islamabad and send them packing”.

“We used to say from day one that he was an incompetent ruler,” the PDM chief said.

“Yesterday, the prime minister admitted his incompetence,” he said.

The PDM chief said that the opposition had been saying that the government was inept, but now the premier himself had admitted his failure.

“He said that he could not make sense of the figures that were presented before him ... such a government does not have the right to make decisions for the people,” he said.

He added that the Supreme Court had also raised questions over the conduct of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

“The premier says I will have to answer, but I want to say to him that he is in the grip of my accountability,” he said.

“First get yourself off the hook, and then talk about us.”

He said that Pakistan was currently facing a myriad of issues. “A country with a sinking economy can’t safeguard its geographical sovereignty,” the PDM chief said.

He said that Pakistan had become “isolated” in the region.

“China gave you a loan to repay your debts to the Saudis at an interest rate of 14 per cent,” he said, adding that China did this because the government had “treated them badly”.

“You have destroyed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and ruined Chinese investment in Pakistan. What else can you expect from the world when you treat them as such?” asked Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Shah Awais Ahmad Noorani of Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, Ameer Haider Khan Hoti and Mian Iftikhar Hussain of the ANP and Amir Muqam and Marriyam Aurangzeb of the PML-N also took part in the public meeting.

Maryam Nawaz said that Imran Khan’s government was not qualified to run the country’s affairs.

She said those who boasted of having a strong team before the 2018 elections were now admitting that they came to power without any preparation.

“Mardan will not rest until Imran Khan is sent home,” said Maryam.

Addressing the prime minister, she said that he was unprepared for providing 10 million jobs to the people but was fully prepared “to plunder Rs400 billion in sugar, Rs225 billion in flour and Rs122 billion in LNG scandals. The prime minister was also fully prepared to appoint his friends and close ones to important posts in the government,” she alleged.

Maryam Nawaz said that the entire Lahore police were changed to take back his brother-in-law’s plot, but relatives of his political opponents were thrown in prison.

Maryam Nawaz referred to the prime minister’s comments a day earlier in which he had urged his ministers to improve their performances, saying that he did not have a team in place to manage Pakistan’s issues.

“He says that he is not afraid of the PDM and will not bow before it,” she said, taunting the prime minister by saying that only the one “who stands can take a bow”.

Earlier, the PML-N vice president led a huge convoy of supporters into Mardan to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally.

The Mardan Ring Road and other roads and streets leading to the Gaju Khan Baba flyover were decorated with party flags and banners of all the component parties of the PDM.

Earlier, Ameer Haider Hoti in his address criticized the PTI government for what he said “ruining the country’s economy” and “isolating the country at the international level”.

“The ouster of selected PM Imran Khan is a demand of the whole nation, not of any single political party,” Hoti said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020