Sharif brothers should be encouraging their party to follow democracy and return to the National Assembly, rather than provoking anarchy and chaos in Pakistan by taking to the streets. 
DAWN.COM | ? Punjab | Decision will now be made on streets
Decision will now be made on the streets: Nawaz
LAHORE: Signalling an end to the ongoing back channel mediation and reconciliation efforts between the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, Nawaz Sharif made it known on Friday that from now on he would do politics of confrontation as the city observed a complete shutter-down strike.
‘We’ve seen elections (as the results could not settle the issue of deposed judges) and decisions will now be made on streets,’ he told a rally, one of the biggest in the history of the city, held to protest disqualification of Nawaz and brother Shahbaz Sharif by the Supreme Court.
Late arrival of the central leadership disappointed many activists who had been waiting in the sun since midday. Some left the venue without hearing the Sharifs.
Strict security measures were made for the rally as The Mall had been declared a no-go area for motorists since noon, while pedestrians were either frisked or made to walk through security gates erected on some entry points.
Around 3,500 policemen were deployed along the route while personal guards of the Sharifs were manning the bullet-proof stage.
Urging the participants to join the long march and sit-in in Islamabad with equal enthusiasm, Nawaz said their sacrifice of a few days time could change the destination of the country.
He asserted that participants of the march on Islamabad would play a decisive role.
Again accusing President Zardari of deception and backing out of promises, he said if voted to power, the PML-N would not reciprocate it.
Referring to the PPP co-chairman’s remarks that though being unfortunate, the disqualification verdict carried legal weight, Nawaz asked if Zardari would term PPP founder chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s hanging on a disputed judicial decision in the same words.
Recalling that the late Bhutto had been sentenced to death on Ahmad Raza Kasuri’s FIR, he regretted that Kasuri was now a counsel for President Zardari.
He lamented that the people supposed to be democrats were now hatching conspiracies against democracy.
Continuing his attempts of creating a difference between the ‘Zardari group’ and the ‘real’ PPP, he advised the president to consult the PPP before taking important decisions.
Earlier, Shahbaz also came hard on President Zardari and adviser to PM on interior Rehman Malik.
He said on one hand the PPP was talking of a dialogue and on the other it was indulging in horse trading.
He alleged that Malik withdrew Rs500 million from the exchequer for horse trading in Punjab.
All major markets and business centres in Lahore remained closed on Friday on the call of the PML-N, while other parts of the province responded with a scattered strike.
Lahore wore a deserted look for the most of the day as all major associations of traders and shopkeepers – Qaumi Tajir Ithad or National Traders Association, Anjuman-i-Tajran and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry – had appealed for the strike, making the success of the call was more of foregone conclusion.
A partial strike was observed in Dera Ghazi Khan, Sargodha, Bahawalpur and Muzaffargarh while Multan and Mianwali responded fully to the call where Friday is observed a weekly day off.