LAHORE   -  Office bearers of ‘Save Constitution Movement’ Saturday announced holding rallies across the country from August 13 for achievement of what they called a real freedom from the unelected forces.

“We got freedom from the British Raj in 1947, but the people are still struggling to get real freedom”, Chairman Save Constitution Movement Mahmood Khan Achakzai told reporters here at a local hotel.

He was accompanied by other members of the movement including former National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaisar, Sardar Latif Khosa and Munir Ahmad Khan. Opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly Ahmad Khan Bachar and some PTI MPAs were also present.

Mahmood Achakzai maintained that the country was not being run according to the Constitution as the civil and military establishment wielded real power. He invited all political parties to sit together for a dialogue to set parameters for the protection of the Constitution. Achakzai also proposed that political parties should hold consultations to review the electoral laws to conduct transparent elections.

Achakzai alleged that the present government lacked legitimacy as it was the product of Form-47.

Asad Qaisar demanded the establishment to restore powers of the Parliament which was a real representative of the people. He also announced to hold seminars and rallies across the country to prepare the people for the achievement of real freedom. The leaders of ‘Save the Constitution Movement’ are set to meet recently released PTI workers, Alya Hamza and Sanam Javed. They are also likely to meet PTI President Ch Parvez Elahi.          

While criticising the incumbent government’s alleged tactics to suppress the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Saturday that the country might not achieve political stability without the recognition of the party’s founder Imran Khan’s role.

“Imran Khan is a political reality,” said Qureshi during an informal interaction with journalists in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail, adding: “Without accepting this reality, our country cannot achieve political stability.”

Criticising a plethora of cases filed against him after May 9, 2023, riots, he said that dozens of cases had been lodged against him within just one year. He added that he had been in politics for 40 years but not a single case was registered against him in the last 39 years.

The former ruling party has been facing crackdown for its alleged involvement in the May 9 riots that saw military installations including Rawalpindi’s General Headquarters (GHQ) and Lahore Corps Commander’s House being vandalised by mobs. He said that slain Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was “not anti-Pakistan” and became a victim of “cruelty”. The former foreign minister claimed that the trend of labelling everyone “traitor” for the last 75 years should be stopped. He urged stakeholders to resolve Balochistan issues via dialogue. Responding to criticism against the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chairman’s nomination as the opposition’s mediator, Qureshi said that Mahmood Khan Achakzai “is a democrat and an individual having democratic and constitutional ideology cannot be labelled ‘traitor’”.