LAHORE: Chairman Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and head of Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Ain Party Mehmood Khan Achakzai believes that the events that took place on May 9 last year have been exaggerated.
Achakzai suggested that the current government should step down and a central government led by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi should be formed to take the country forward and hold fresh elections.
“Pakistan’s history is full of tragedies like what happened on May 9. The hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is one, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the subsequent murder of Murtaza Bhutto is another. What happened on May 12 (2007) is another.”
But how many of those cases have been solved and the perpetrators punished, Achakzai wondered.
Calls for a “national government” to move the country forward
“If we cannot hold all those involved in these incidents accountable, why blame only one? It is time to stop singling out Imran Khan, stop the witch hunt and move forward,” Achazkai said at a press conference here, flanked by PTI leader and former National Assembly speaker Asad Kaiser.
Achakzai further demanded the formation of a four-month central government to run the country.
“All major parties need to come together, acknowledge and resolve their differences, come to an agreement on how to run the country, find the right person (like Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) to head the caretaker government and let the winner of the elections run the country,” he told Dawn.com in an interview.
Achakzai said the constitution provides a clear path forward: “If everyone respects the constitution, all the country’s current problems will be solved. It is not our destiny to continue to be ruled by generals and corrupt politicians who rob people of their confidence.”
Achakzai said building infrastructure like roads, streets, sewers and drainage cannot replace real freedom. He added that the British rulers built all this better than any other ruler in Pakistan. “But we wanted them to go because real freedom means the right to govern and decide one’s own destiny. This is what PTI leader Imran Khan was demanding.”
He found a solution to the problem only in the supremacy of the Constitution, the sovereignty of Parliament and the rule of law, as demanded by the jailed Imran Khan.
“This year, August 14 is the starting point for us and Tehreek-e-Tahafuz-e-Ain is inviting all those who want to join hands, contribute and come forward to save the country,” he declared.
Speaking on the occasion, Asad Kaiser announced that PTI would hold seminars, rallies and debates on August 13 to create awareness on the issue and convince the people about the importance of rule of law, autonomy, civilian primacy and parliamentary sovereignty in the nation’s development.
Qaiser said the PTI will hold a rally in Lahore on August 27 as it has received permission, and asserted that the rally will be huge enough for everyone to participate.
“The PTI is also demanding the right to protest as per the law. If the Supreme Court has given this right to the PTI, why can’t this government do the same?”
He wondered how Parliament could enact a law that goes against the Supreme Court’s ruling. He declared that Mehmood Achakzai and other alliance partners would also challenge the law soon.
Asad Kaiser also took an unusual turn and mocked Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s TikTok video, pointing out that she has not been given the mandate to rule the province and she should be more aware of it as she has stolen the mandate from the PTI.
He further said that Maryam’s father (Nawaz) should have had the moral courage to accept defeat and refuse to form the central and provincial governments, which would have earned him great respect.
Qaiser said he was in the city to enquire about the health of ailing PTI leader Parvez Elahi and to visit PTI functionary Aalia Hamza.
Published in Dawn on August 11, 2024
