Pak oppn alliance stages 2nd massive rally in Karachi (Ld)

By Hamza Ameer Karachi, Oct 19 : Just two days after its debut power show, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance comprising 11 of the country’s opposition parties, staged its second public rally in the port city of Karachi.
The rally was held on Sunday evening at the Bagh-i-Jinnah, where leaders of the opposition parties shared the stage and called on people to intensify the anti-government movement, which they said would soon yield fruit in the ouster of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The gathering was addressed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who has been appointed as the alliance’s first phase chief, among others.
However, former Prime Minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was not given the opportunity to give an address the rally through video link, like he did during the PDM’s first power show on October 16 in Gujranwala city.
Sunday’s event also coincided with the 13th anniversary of the October 18, 2007 attack on the homecoming procession of late Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in Karachi that killed more than 200 people.
The speakers lashed out at Prime Minister Khan for lacking the mandate to rule the country and for what they called sheer bad governance, causing serious hardships to the countrymen due to the ruined state of the economy.