Daily Times

PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP chairman Asif Ali Zardari will address the opposition’s all-parties conference today (Sunday) via video link and it will be broadcast live on social media, the PPP said on Saturday.

“The PPP will provide a link on social media where the two leaders will deliver opening remarks,” the party said in a statement. It added that following the conference, a media briefing will be held.

Responding to a tweet regarding the broadcast being aired on all major social media platforms, PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz said, “We are doing that Insha’Allah.” The announcement of a live broadcast comes even as Prime Minister Imran Khan’s aide on political communication Shahbaz Gill warned the PML-N that if Nawaz’s address is aired on social media, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and other laws will be used to take action against him.

An 11-member delegation of PML-N led by its president Shehbaz Sharif will attend the opposition-led APC today. The party leaders who will attend the APC include PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Ayaz Sadiq, Pervez Rasheed, Rana Sanaullah, Amir Muqam, and Maryam Aurangzeb.

PML-N has finalized its recommendations for opposition’s APC. According to sources, PML-N will present suggestion of midterm elections, public processions in November to send government packing, combined fund for anti-government campaign and weekly protests outside assemblies.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman along with his party delegation will attend the APC on today. As per details, JUI-F has too agreed to join the APC being hosted by PPP in Islamabad. The delegation of JUI-F will include Maulana Ghafoor Hyderi, Akram Khan Durrani and Kamran Murtaza. Fazlur Rehman will present his recommendations in the APC.

PPP stalwart Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the APC due to be held today will chalk out the final plan to oust the “hollow” government. “It is clear the government knows full well how hollow it is from within,” the PPP leader said. “The crutches it is on will not save the government. The real support comes from the people.” He said that keeping the government’s two-year performance as a “charge-sheet”, the entire country and all political parties “rightfully view” the government to have “failed in every sector”. “Not only have they gone back on all their promises, they have in fact, put the country into reverse gear and have snatched away any existing freedoms, making life difficult for citizens,” Kaira said.

He said that a joint action plan for the future is necessary to be developed. “Every party has its own viewpoint, but a joint action plan will enable us to rid the country of this government.” He said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari spoke to Nawaz Sharif on the telephone to inquire about his health and extended an invitation to participate in the APC, which the PML-N supremo accepted. He will attend the conference virtually, as will PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, he added. “So we will formulate the final action plan to be implemented against the government tomorrow; we will decide what course of action to take,” he said, adding that the venue for the APC has changed. It was to be held at Ramada but will now be held at Marriott Hotel, he added.