KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari threatened on Thursday to launch a protest march to the capital to topple the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The leaders were speaking on the occasion of the 40th death anniversary of the PPP’s founder, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh in Sindh province.
“It is time for us to march toward Islamabad and oust them [the government],” Zardari said. “I don’t want to do this because I want to be in government; [it is because] he [Prime Minister Khan] has already taken the country 50 years back. If we allow him to remain, he will take us 100 years back.”
Bilawal also spoke on the occasion and warned Khan against repealing the 18th Amendment which was passed in 2010 and empowered the prime minister and parliament and devolved powers to provincial governments.
“Those who are sitting in the Prime Minister’s Office have become a symbol of arrogance,” he said. “Those who are parading the idea of Naya (new) Pakistan should first understand the foundations of the old Pakistan.”
“Since PTI has come to power, they have done nothing with sincerity, except lying,” Bilawal added. “There is a tsunami of inflation.”
Political analysts said the harsh tone of the PPP leaders would not have much effect on Khan’s administration as it was still backed by the military establishment, which exerts great control over the running of the government in Pakistan.
“Although there is no immediate threat to the PTI’s government due to strong backing of the establishment, Imran Khan’s party is certainly in trouble, due to its own problems,” Karachi-based analyst Saeed Khawar said.
Surging fuel prices and inflation, at its highest in more than five years, has shocked many Pakistanis who voted for Khan and his promise to eradicate poverty, create jobs and build an Islamic welfare state.
Zardari is facing a plethora of money laundering cases before Pakistan courts and observers said the threats of a protest march might be a way to pressurize Khan’s government into backing down.
“The PPP leaders have taken this opportunity to pressurize the PTI government, which wants to pursue corruption cases against Zardari,” Khawar said.
Major opposition party threatens march to the capital to topple Pakistan government
Major opposition party threatens march to the capital to topple Pakistan government
- PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari says Khan had “taken the country 50 years back”
- PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warns the government against repealing 18th amendment that granted autonomy to the provinces
Pakistan combing for perpetrators after deadly Balochistan attacks
- Pakistan has been battling a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades, with frequent armed attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-locals
- Militants stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations, killing 31 civilians and 17 security personnel, the Balochistan chief minister says
QUETTA: Pakistan forces were hunting on Sunday for the separatists behind a string of coordinated attacks in restive Balochistan province, with the government vowing to retaliate after more than 190 people were killed in two days.
Around a dozen sites remained sealed off, with troops combing the area a day after militants stormed banks, jails, police stations and military installations, killing at least 31 civilians and 17 security personnel, according to the chief minister of Balochistan province.
At least 145 attackers were also killed, he added, while an official told AFP that a deputy district commissioner had been abducted.
That figure includes more than 40 militants that security forces said were killed on Friday.
Mobile internet service across the province has been jammed for more than 24 hours, while road traffic is disrupted and train services suspended.
After being rocked by explosions, typically bustling Quetta lay quiet on Sunday, with major roads and businesses deserted, and people staying indoors out of fear.
Shattered metal fragments and mangled vehicles litter some roads.
"Anyone who leaves home has no certainty of returning safe and sound. There is constant fear over whether they will come back unharmed," Hamdullah, a 39-year-old shopkeeper who goes by one name, told AFP in Quetta.
The chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, told a press conference in Quetta that all the districts under attack were cleared on Sunday.
"We are chasing them, we will not let them go so easily," he said.
"Our blood is not that cheap. We will chase them until their hideouts."
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province's most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement sent to AFP.
The group, which the United States has designated a terrorist organisation, said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who flew to Quetta late Saturday to join funerals, claimed without offering any evidence that the attackers were supported by India.
"We will not spare a single terrorist involved in these incidents," he said.
In a press conference on Sunday, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif likewise claimed the attackers enjoyed links to India and pledged to "completely eliminate these terrorists".
India denied any involvement.
"We categorically reject the baseless allegations made by Pakistan, which are nothing but its usual tactics to deflect attention from its own internal failings," said foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal on Sunday.
'BROAD DAYLIGHT'
Pakistan has been battling a Baloch separatist insurgency for decades, with frequent armed attacks on security forces, foreign nationals and non-local Pakistanis in the mineral-rich province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
Saturday's attacks came a day after the military said it killed 41 insurgents in two separate operations in the province.
The insurgents released a video showing group leader Bashir Zaib leading armed units on motorcycles during the attack.
Another clip claimed to show the abducted senior official from Nushki district.
In another district, militants freed at least 30 inmates from a district jail, while seizing firearms and ammunition. They also ransacked a police station and took ammunition with them.
"It was one of the most audacious attacks in the region in recent years, as unlike other attacks, it took place in broad daylight," Abdul Basit at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore told AFP.
"It is alarming that militants, with coordinated manpower and strategic acumen, have now reached the provincial capital," he added.
Several of the BLA's videos featured women insurgents, while Defence Minister Asif said at least one of the suicide bombers was a young woman.
"They continue to showcase women strategically in high-visibility attacks," Basit said.
Pakistan's poorest province and largest by landmass, Balochistan lags behind the rest of the country in almost every index, including education, employment and economic development.
Baloch separatists accuse Pakistan's government of exploiting the province's natural gas and abundant mineral resources, without benefiting the local population. The government denies this.
The BLA has intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms.
Last year, the separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board, sparking a deadly two-day siege.
