PTI to resign from all assemblies except KP: Qureshi
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Monday defended his last night’s call to launch a civil disobedience movement to oust Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from power.
Addressing the participants of Azadi March here, Khan said that civil disobedience movement was a peaceful weapon to win freedom. This movement will bring Nawaz Sharif on his knees, he said. Khan said the nation has been burdened with heavy taxes. Thank God, government has not imposed tax on oxygen. “We have exercised all legal options to get justice. It is our democratic right to stage protests.”
Earlier, PTI has said that the party has decided to resign from the National Assembly and all provincial assemblies except Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The resignations are to be submitted to the relevant speakers Tuesday morning. The announcement was made by PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who said that the decision was made after all other options were exhausted by the party in their protests against alleged rigging in the May 2013 general elections. Qureshi said that discussions are still being held regarding resignations from the Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Assembly.
Qureshi said that the approach of the government and PTI is as different as day and night.
“Nawaz said the election was the cleanest in Pakistan’s history; we said that it was the worst. He says that the Election Commission was independent, we say it was biased.
“They said that the caretaker government was decided by consensus, we say that two political parties decided the caretaker government…” The announcement comes after PTI chief Imran Khan held a meeting of the Core Committee.
Responding to a question Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that the doors of negotiations have not been closed. “But we suspected government’s intentions before and we suspect their intentions now”, said Shah Mehmood. Members of the core committee raised their reservations over Civil Disobedience Movement but sources have learnt that their concerns were addressed. Agencies