maulana-fazlur-rehmans-address-causes-outrage-in-pakistan-1-640x384Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday once again urged the PPP and the ANP to reconsider their decision to resign from all posts of the alliance. “I urge them to reconsider the situation, and if they have committed a mistake, they should accept it […] as these are the tenets of democracy,” Fazl said while addressing a press conference flanked by other PDM leaders. On April 12, the PPP had announced that the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) had called upon its members to resign from all positions of the PDM, while leaders of the ANP had withdrawn from the alliance after show-cause notices were issued to the party to explain their actions during the recently held Senate polls. The presser came after the opposition alliance met in the day to deliberate over its anti-government strategy. However, PPP and ANP were not invited to the steering committee meeting. Turning his guns towards the government, the PDM chief criticised the centre for not purchasing enough coronavirus vaccines. “For a population the size of Pakistan, how effective will 1 million doses of the vaccines be?” he asked. While keeping the prevalent situation in mind, it is crucial to oust the incumbent government and hold free and fair elections, Fazl said, and added that some things have slowed down due to the holy month of Ramazan, but the PDM is still intact. Separately, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari strongly criticized the PTI government on the issue of high electricity and gas tariffs, and said that the IMF directed Imran Khan to increase the electricity bill following which the PTI government issued an ordinance. “PM Imran Khan runs the Pakistani economy on the instructions of the IMF hence tarnishing the country’s image,” he alleged. According to a statement issued by Bilawal House on Monday, the PPP chairman said that the people are suffering the consequences of Imran Khan’s incompetence in the IMF deal through their high electricity and gas bills. Imran Khan has now planned to rob 700 billion rupees from the pockets of the poor people, he claimed. Bilawal said that the PM says he is proud of his performance, but the people are looking for this performance with expensive electricity and gas bills in their hand. “PM Imran who tore the electricity bill at Rs 8 per unit is now silent when it has gone up to Rs 21 per unit,” he added. Bilawal said the prime minister has no idea about the situation of a middle class family who is reluctant to run the air conditioner due to expensive bills in this hot weather and during the month of Ramazan while they are fasting. “In the state of Madinah, will the savings of a middle-class common man be used only to pay electricity and gas bills,” he questioned. The PPP chairman said that PTI had called a sit-in at D-Chowk against inflation and is now making people stand in line in front of banks to pay the expensive electricity bills. Addressing Imran Khan, he said, “Prime Minister, it is not the previous governments that are responsible for raising the electricity and gas bills but you yourself. People of Pakistan are paying a terrible price for change in the face of high electricity and gas bills.”