“It is time for Pakistan to play its role because we are a nuclear power,” Raja said
PTI Central Secretary General Salman Akram Raja holds a press conference on Sunday. SCREEN GRAB
ISLAMABAD:
Leaders of the opposition alliance and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday urged the government to immediately withdraw from the Peace Council, avoid becoming a party to the Iran war and reverse the sharp rise in oil prices.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, senior party leader Babar Awan and Leader of Opposition in Senate Senator Allama Raja Nasir Abbas made the demand while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
Raja said the Gulf region was facing an extraordinary situation and warned that “barbarism” had been imposed on the region. He said talks held earlier in Oman had come close to reaching a conclusion but were derailed by “Zionist forces”.
“It is time for Pakistan to play its role because we are a nuclear power,” he said.
Raja added that destruction of property should not occur in Arab countries or elsewhere and stressed that the crisis must be resolved through dialogue. “Everyone will have to sit at the negotiating table,” he said, urging leaders to avoid repeating past mistakes.
Raja said the Rs 55 per liter hike in petrol prices indicated what could lie ahead economically for the country.
He claimed that no other country in the region had raised prices to such an extent and accused the elite of taking advantage of the situation instead of reducing their own spending.
