Dr Tahirul Qadri quits politics, PAT chairmanship

LAHORE (92 News) – Dr Tahirul Qadri has announced to quit politics and chairmanship of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) on Saturday. In a video link address on Saturday, he said that in 1989, he had announced to participate in the elections twice and their struggle would be to change the system, not the power. “The elections were announced just six months after forming the PAT in 1990. We established 5,000 educational institutions to give the people conscious,” he said. Dr Tahirul Qadri said that the PAT was trying an alliance when Pervez Musharraf assumed the power. “We took part in the elections. In the parliament, everything is done except resolving public issues and political helplessness. The focus of the parliament is to protect the interests of politicians, not welfare of the people and the nation,” he said. He said that the parliament is a platform for political discussion and he resigned from it on seeing its helplessness. “In December 2012, he had held the biggest public meeting at Minar-e-Pakistan in the name of defending politics, not for politics,” he said. The PAT former chairman said that they revived the dead Article 62 and 63 when they launched the long march in 2013. “The then prime minister signed the agreement to change the electoral system and the people knew the fact that the electoral system was based on rigging,” he said. He said that he had moved the Supreme Court for electoral reforms, but it did not listen to him. “The PAT had not participated in the electoral process since 2002. There is no place for the middle class people in this system. It is for hoodlums, powerful people and capitalists who defect to another party and are elected,” he declared. Dr Tahirul Qadri said that about 80 percent people remain in the power by changing parties and their objective is to loot the national exchequer. “We staged a sit-in in Islamabad for three months and informed the people about a change in the system and the constitution,” he concluded.