Political Group Litters Pakistani Cities With Posters Urging Military Coup

Lined along highways and spread across three major areas in Pakistan, a series of posters popped up overnight displaying an unusually blunt proposal.

Plastered across Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, and the capital of Islamabad, by a political party called Move on Pakistan, the posters express outrage over General Raheel Sharif’s decision to step down at the end of the year.

"Talk of leaving has become old, for God’s sake come now," the posters read, calling for a military coup of the country.

Ali Hashmi, the chief organizer for Move on Pakistan, explained further while speaking to Agence France-Presse on Tuesday.

"Dictatorship is much better than this corrupt government," he said. "The way General Raheel Sharif has dealt with terrorism and corruption, there is no way that the next man would be as effective as him."

The posters, which also popped up in army-run cantonment areas, have since been removed by the government.

There is little reason to suspect that the Pakistani government is at risk of destabilizing. Current Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will select the general’s successor in the months to come, and the military has denied any affiliation with a coup campaign.

"Reference Posters with #COAS pic being displayed across various cities; Army or any affiliated organization have nothing to do with it," military spokesman Lieutenant Asim Bajwa tweeted Tuesday night.

Move on Pakistan also gained attention in February, when it displayed similar posters across the country begging Sharif to remain in his current position and "help in eradicating terrorism and corruption."

In January, General Sharif indicated that he had no intention to remain in his position.

"I do not believe in extension and will retire on the due date," he said at the time, according to Pakistan Today.

"The Pakistan Army is a great institution. Efforts to root out terrorism will continue with full vigor and resolve. Pakistan’s national interest is supreme and will be safeguarded at all costs."