Asifa says people have decided to 'send govt packing'

Efforts to scuttle the Opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement from holding a rally in Multan on Monday largely failed to bear fruit as top party leadership, accompanied with a large number of supporters converged at a makeshift location, where PPP's Asifa Bhutto-Zardari made her PDM debut.

The public gathering, being held at Ghanta Ghar Chowk, also marks PPP's 53rd foundation day. Asifa delivered a short and brisk speech. She vowed to stand by her brother, PPP chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari "every step of the way".

She began her speech by heaping scorn on the "selected" government. "Despite the cruelty and oppression by the selected [government], so many of you have gathered here. This selected [government] will have to go!" She said those who think the Opposition will be cowed into submission are mistaken.

Asifa said that the people had announced their decision and that they wanted PM Imran Khan to "pack up and leave".Speaking about her mother, she said Benazir Bhutto had carried on her father's mission - to establish a welfare state - and faced several setbacks.

"[Former] president Asif Zardari introduced the 18th Amendment and BISP [Benazir Income Support Programme] and fought for the people's rights," Asifa said. She promised PPP workers that she would continue their mission and would not back down. "They think that we are afraid of arrests. If they arrest our brothers, then they should know that every woman of PPP is ready to take up the struggle," she said.

Maryam Nawaz, addressing the rally, said that when she entered Multan, the entire city was already transformed into a rally venue. Addressing the government, she said that because the rally venue was sealed, the people of Multan have turned the streets and the neighbourhoods of the city into the jalsa venue.

The PML-N vice-president said that when the country faces a threat, then its daughters and mothers come out on the streets to save it. Maryam also greeted Asifa warmly, who is making her PDM debut today. A fire was seen in the backdrop, near the Ghanta Ghar Chowk, as Maryam spoke. It was unclear what had caused the fire to erupt. Referring to the passing of her grandmother Begum Shamim Akhtar, who died in London on November 22, Maryam said that her father, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, told her to go to the people of Multan as the family's grief pales in comparison to that of the people. "We know the grief of losing a job," she added. "We realise that you are saddened by a cold stove [due to low gas pressures]." She said the rising costs of electricity and gas are bringing sorrow to people's homes.

In the absence of arrangements at the original venue - Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh stadium - due to a tussle for control of the stadium between the government and the Opposition's party workers, Multan's Ghanta Ghar Chowk was turned into the rally venue with a makeshift stage installed.

PDM chief Maulana Fazl-urRehman, PPP's Yousuf Raza Gilani and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party's Mahmood Khan Achakzai are also at the chowk.