ISLAMABAD: Pakistani opposition parties on Monday refused to call off their anti-government protest after a meeting that lasted for several hours with the government representatives as tens of thousands of demonstrators remained camped for the fifth consecutive day in the federal capital.
The government and opposition representatives held talks in Islamabad for the first time since the protesters entered the city on Thursday, sought the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan and demanded fresh polls in the country.
“The talks are held in a cordial environment and we have decided to meet again tomorrow,” said Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, who is spearheading the government’s negotiating committee to hold talks with the joint opposition.
The protest leader and the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman asked the participants of the “Azadi March” to continue the protest with “courage and perseverance.”
“All the opposition leaders will unanimously decide when to call off the protest,” Rehman said while addressing the charged crowd atop his shipping container. “The opposition leaders have expressed their full support to our anti-government protest.”
Earlier in the day, representatives of all opposition parties held a meeting in Islamabad to decide their future course of action.
The firebrand religious cleric on Friday gave the prime minister two days to resign, adding that the demonstrators would otherwise devise a workable future strategy to dislodge the government. The deadline for the ultimatum expired on Sunday, but Rehman refrained from announcing a new deadline or strategy to achieve his goal.
The opposition parties have built their anti-government campaign on the basis of alleged election irregularities and a fast deteriorating economy since the installation of the current government in August last year.
Prime Minister Khan had come into power, promising about ten million jobs for youth and five million low-cost homes for middle-class families.
However, the economy has nosedived in the last one year, with inflation touching double-digit numbers as the government opted for a $6 billion bailout package with tough taxation and economic reforms conditions to stave off a balance of payments crisis.
Criticizing the government’s economic policies, the JUI-F chief said that Pakistan’s economic decisions were handed over to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which had resulted in historically high inflation and unemployment in the country.
“We cannot tolerate further decline of our economy,” he told the participants of the protest who were carrying placards inscribed with anti-government slogans and waving flags of their party.
