Pakistan faces a prolonged crisis if the govt. continues to disregard Opposition’s grievances
The joint rally called by Pakistan’s Opposition parties at Larkana in Sindh on Sunday, on the 13th death anniversary of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, signals that the country’s political crisis is not going to be resolved any time soon. Eleven Opposition parties, including Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), have formed a grand alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which has been staging protests for months against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government. At Larkana, the PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and the PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz Sharif gave Mr. Khan a January 31 ultimatum to quit and call fresh elections. If he does not do so, they have threatened to launch a “long march to Islamabad”, which could shut down the capital city and worsen the crisis. After spending time dismissing and attacking the Oppositio