Top Pakistani opposition leaders to meet as anti-government agitation on the cards

ISLAMABAD: Jailed former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, will have a rare meeting with the chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, on Sunday as opposition parties consider launching an anti-government agitation over a ballooning economic crisis, a senior leader of Sharif’s party said on Saturday.

Bilawal invited Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) vice president, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, and other opposition party leaders to an iftar meal on Sunday, which the PMLN’s media wing said in a Twitter post she had agreed to attend.

“Bilawal’s invitation to Maryam is significant and important because they are both leaders of the country’s major political parties,” Romina Khurshid Alam, a PML-N lawmaker and close Maryam aide, told Arab News. “Obviously when they meet, they will discuss the political situation, particularly the worsening economic situation, and its impact on the common man.”

Officials from the PMLN will also be meeting on Monday to plan an anti-government protest campaign following instructions from their jailed leader Nawaz Sharif to launch an agitation against the administration of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Sharif is currently serving a seven-year sentence imposed last year for failing to disclose the source of income that allowed him to acquire the Al-Azizia Steel Mills in Saudi Arabia. He has appealed. He was let out of prison in March on medical bail but landed back in jail last week after the court refused to extend the bail period.

On Thursday, Sharif met his daughter and other family members and party leaders at Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail and, according to local media reports, instructed them to plan an anti-government protest movement after Eid Al-Fitr, the religious festival that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Economic deterioration, high inflation and unemployment will be the main pillars of the agitation, media said.

“PMLN has summoned a party meeting on Monday,” senior PMLN leader Pervaiz Rashid told Arab News. “The purpose of this call [to protest] is to highlight people’s hardships,” he added, saying he would share details of what the party was planning once Monday’s meeting had taken place.

Inflation at its highest in more than five years has shocked many Pakistanis who voted for PM Khan and his promise to eradicate poverty, create jobs and build an Islamic welfare state.

Bilalwal’s party has also recently hinted that it would launch a street protest against the government after Eid.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan, has said the PMLN had no justification for launching a movement against the economy, accusing the party of stunting growth during its five-year term from 2013-2018.

“After leading the funeral of the economy, they now want to extract more oil from the people,” she said in a tweet on Friday. In another post, she said: “After wrecking the economy, with what face are they talking about going to the people?”