'Go Zardari Go' slogans outside Presidency: opposition stages sit-in

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Thursday shifted its protest venue against prolonged power outages from Parliament to Presidency where it staged a token sit-in along with other opposition parties' parliamentarians who included a lawmaker of the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP).
The protesting PML-N lawmakers, earlier, staged a walkout from National Assembly following an exchange of allegations with the ruling PPP parliamentarians over the energy crisis. Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khursheed Shah, however, accused PML-N of the ongoing energy crisis and abandoning power projects, which were started by the late Benazir Bhutto.
PPP's lawmakers including Fauzia Wahab, Jamshed Dasti and Nadeem Afzal Chan exchanged harsh words with PML-N members during a debate in the lower house on the ongoing power outages in the country. Led by the leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the PML-N lawmakers were also joined by members of the other opposition parties including PPP-Sherpao chairman Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, JUI-F's Laeq Ahmed Khan, JUI-Ideological Molvi Asmatullah in the walkout and later in the protest sit-in outside the presidency.
The sit-in was also joined by a PPP lawmaker from Balochistan, Nasir Ali Shah, who has been staging a protest in front of the Parliament House for the last few days against the continued targeted killings of members of Hazara Community in Quetta. PML-Q dissident Senator Tariq Azeem, PML-Q like-minded president Senator Saleem Saifullah and MNA Kashmala Tariq, and MNA Abdul Malik from Fata also joined the protesting PML-N lawmakers outside the presidency.
Chanting slogans "Go Zardari Go", the protesting lawmakers rallied from Parliament House to assemble before the Presidency. However, the two gates of the presidency were fenced and blocked with barricades as part of security measures with deployment of police contingents. The parliamentarians were also holding placards inscribed with slogans "Mr President! Give me my future back", "Throw the thieves out", "No to corrupt rulers", "Let the poor live" and "Stop looting the poor, the poor are already dying".
Speaking on the occasion, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan lashed out at the rulers and their allies, accusing them of the current economic, energy and political crises. "Unfortunately, the rulers are least bothered about the problems being faced by the common man and they are busy in making deals," he said while referring to PML-Q's leadership Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Ellahi meeting with President Zardari and MQM's decision to rejoin the coalition governments in the centre and Sindh province.
He rejected Prime Minister Gilani's remarks that PML-N was fast becoming isolated. He termed the ruling coalition as gathering of 'some people' for their vested interests. "What else could be called isolation as a person whose movement is only restricted to presidency," he said, adding that whenever there were natural calamities in Sindh, Zardari left for France, but when in trouble he (Zardari) would immediately employ the 'Sindh card' with a view to gaining sympathies of Sindhi people.
Criticising the Prime Minister for what he termed "political point-scoring" on dengue attack on Punjab, Nisar said that it was unfortunate that Prime Minister of the country was using a natural calamity to gain political mileage. Nisar was also critical of PTI chief Imran Khan for his "silence" over poor governance, asserting that the stance taken by him was the result of a secret contact between the rulers and him.
Describing his party and those who participated in the sit-in as 'real representatives' of the people, he said that the protest was not only against the power load shedding but was also against corruption, unrest in Karachi and Balochistan as well as silence of the rulers over the threats of external aggression.
Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said that the time has come to give the whole nation a call to come forward for safeguarding Pakistan. "We don't need assemblies but Pakistan and the people," he said. Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that the country was facing serious challenges but the rulers were not paying heed to people's problems. The sit-in was also addressed by PPP's MNA Nasir Ali Shah, PML-N's Khawaja Saad Rafiq and PML-Q's like-minded president Saleem Saifullah Khan.