Dr Tahirul Qadri has announced that the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) will not contest the upcoming general elections.
During the end of his address at a rally here, he said that the PAT would hold sit-ins at polling stations across the country on election day.
Dr Qadri further said that electoral reforms promised to him were not fulfilled and he was not willing to become part of the current corrupt political system.
Earlier, Dr Qadri said that the formation of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was not under Article 213 of the Constitution, adding that the commission should be impartial and reconstituted.
After so much of hue and cry, Qadri sahab has taken PAT off the contest. I hope he remains part of the political system instead of retreating to Canada again for another 4 years and 9 months.
Sadly enough, everyone is mocking him because he was essentially unable to get the govt to keep its word in doing the right thing. Sadly enough, that is the lame state of affairs our status quo political parties are in. They feel pride in having a corrupt system in place.
Dr. Qadri only asked for reforms, that were correct, and need of the hour. In the absence of such reforms, it is unlikely that there would be free and fair elections. Kudos to him for not inciting his followers the wrong way, otherwise I truly believe that as eloquent and powerful that he is, he could have steered his followers to agitation very easily.
Dr Qadri did not say any such thing. The media seems to be getting its scripts from some central misleading source, which is why all media outlets reported the above incorrect statement, in an attempt to malign him.
He announced sit-ins in every city where polling would be held…not at the polling stations. Big difference.
I dont agree with Dr. Qadri on a lot of levels, and dont agree with PAT, but are you disagreeing with the fact that he is an excellent orator? PTI also boycotted the 2008 elections for similar reasons, and a lot of people were saying similar things about PTI back then. PAT has made a principled decision to stay out of the elections, and frankly, after the way the govt and SC dealt with him, anyone in his shoes would have done the same.
The govt made false promises (though that is not unprecedented for PPP), and the SC placed question marks on his loyalty to Pakistan based on his dual citizenship, which was absurd and pretty stupid of them.
chalain shukar hay baqi batoon say tou mutafiq hain aap (angoor khtay aur khaidan) 
Sorry I m taking my words back 