NDC seeks resignations of president and prime minister, calls for unity setup

ISLAMABAD: The National Dialogue Committee (NDC) on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari to step down, saying the present government had failed to deliver and that a National Unity Government should be formed until fresh elections are held.

At a joint press conference at the National Press Club, former Sindh governor Imran Ismail, former federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry and Muhammad Ali Durrani, former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information adviser Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, Mahmood Maulvi and other NDC leaders said the current administration had fallen short in governance, the economy, security and public welfare.

Demand for fresh elections

Muhammad Ali Durrani said the country needed immediate and effective steps to emerge from what he described as political, economic and security crises. He demanded the resignation of the prime minister and president, dissolution of the National Assembly and early general elections so that voters could choose their representatives.

Durrani also said that, for the first time in the country’s history, the federal government had presented a budget after reducing the provinces’ share of funds. He said this reflected a serious economic situation and carried implications for national security. According to him, the ruling setup was using cuts in resources to pursue political objectives, discredit institutions and shift responsibility for its own failures onto state institutions.

"It is a clear evidence of serious economic crisis and a warning for national security," Durrani said referring to the budget.

The NDC leaders maintained that it was in the national interest for the present dispensation to make way for a transition they said could help ensure stability, security and economic improvement.

Concerns over internal situation

Imran Ismail said Pakistan was going through a sensitive phase marked by both domestic and external challenges. He said the armed forces, under Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, had played what he termed an outstanding role in the conflict with India and in efforts aimed at global peace.

He added, however, that these achievements had been overshadowed by internal difficulties and economic decline under the current rulers, creating what he described as a perception of failure that was not in the interest of the country, its people or its institutions.

The press conference brought together several opposition-aligned political figures under the NDC platform, with the group using the event to press for a change in the current political arrangement and a move towards new elections.