Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former federal minister Hammad Azhar said Saturday that the Pakistani ruling elites must learn a lesson from the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka, ARY News reported.
While addressing a press conference in Lahore today, Hammad Azhar said that the situation of Sri Lanka is devastating and Pakistani elites should get a lesson from it. He demanded the present government immediately organise fresh elections in Pakistan.
“The situation in our country is going towards an economic collapse. A survey showed that 70% population favour fresh elections. The forthcoming by-polls in Punjab is possessing importance due to the prevailing situation.”
READ: IMRAN KHAN SAYS ‘PUNJAB BY-POLLS WILL DECIDE THE FATE OF COUNTRY’
“Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is becoming more popular among the nationals and we would be victorious after getting the support of the religious parties.”
Sri Lanka crisis deepens
Thousands of protesters in Sri Lanka’s commercial capital Colombo stormed the president’s official residence and his secretariat on Saturday amid months of mounting public anger over the country’s worst economic crisis in seven decades, Reuters reported on Saturday.
Thousands of protesters also broke open the gates of the sea-front presidential secretariat, which has been the site of a sit-in protest for months, and entered the premises, TV footage showed.
Military personnel and police at both locations were unable to hold back the crowd, as they chanted slogans asking President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down.
Two defence ministry sources said President Rajapaksa was removed from the official residence on Friday for his safety ahead of the planned rally over the weekend.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday summoned an emergency party leaders meeting to discuss the situation and come to a swift resolution, his office said in a statement.
He has also requested the speaker to summon parliament, the statement said.
Wickremesinghe has also been moved to a secure location, a government source told Reuters.
A Facebook livestream from inside the president’s house showed hundreds of protesters, some draped in flags, packing into rooms and corridors, shouting slogan’s against Rajapaksa.
Hundreds also milled about on the grounds outside the colonial-era white-washed building. No security officials were visible.
At least 21 people, including two police were injured and hospitalised in the ongoing protests, hospital sources told Reuters.
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