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Fazl to head anti-govt alliance in first phase
Opposition party chiefs attend first PDM meeting, pass two resolutions
• Events already announced by PPP, PML-N to be held under PDM banner
• Major parties to get key offices on a rotational basis
• Govt slammed for calling political opponents ‘traitors’
ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-Fazl), has become the first president of the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) after his unanimous nomination by the heads of all the constituent parties during their first formal meeting through video link on Saturday.
According to PDM’s steering committee convener Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader and deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif proposed Maulana’s name as the alliance president and it was endorsed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and others.
Sources told Dawn that Mr Sharif had initially proposed that Maulana Fazl should be appointed as the president on a permanent basis, but the idea was opposed by Mr Bhutto-Zardari and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Amir Haider Hoti, who suggested that the office should be given on a rotational basis to leaders of the constituent parties.
The sources said there was an agreement among the leaders that the Maulana should lead the PDM in the first phase as he had already led a long march, dubbed as Azadi March, against the present Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government last year.
“Since the Maulana has already done a rehearsal and his party is more disciplined and has the ability to effectively mobilise the masses, therefore, in the first and decisive phase, he is the best choice,” said one of the participants in the meeting.
The sources said most of the participants were of the opinion that in order to maintain ‘continuity’, it was necessary that the tenure of key office-bearers, including that of the PDM president, should not exceed four to six months.
The Maulana’s nomination to lead the movement came only a week before the formal launch of the anti-government campaign by the opposition parties with PDM’s first public meeting scheduled for Oct 11 in Quetta.
Talking to Dawn after the Saturday meeting, which was attended by the leaders of the opposition parties from different cities through video link, Mr Iqbal said it had been decided that the three major parties in the 11-party alliance would share the three top offices of the PDM on a rotational basis. The offices of senior vice-president and the general secretary of the PDM would be given to the PML-N and the PPP.
The final decision about the term of these offices and nominations on other posts, including information secretary, will be made in a meeting of the steering committee to be held on Monday. Also, PDM’s provincial structure would be decided in the steering committee meeting, disclosed the convener who is also the PML-N secretary general.
Besides, he said, the steering committee would finalise programmes of public meetings and future strategy of the PDM.
When asked why the PML-N had announced a separate schedule of its public meetings in Punjab, Mr Iqbal said that the party had initially announced public meetings and rallies to protest the arrest of party president and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif. However, it was decided in the meeting of the PDM party heads that all the upcoming events of the parties would be held under the PDM banner, he said, explaining that the PML-N would extend invitation to all the PDM component parties to attend the October 16 public meeting in Gujranwala. Similarly, he said, all PDM member parties would also participate in the activities that had already been planned by the PPP including an event in connection with the 2007 Karsaz tragedy.
Mr Iqbal said the opposition had decided to launch the movement for the supremacy of the Constitution, democracy, the independent judiciary and for the security of the rights of Pakistanis.
Resolutions
The opposition parties’ heads in their meeting also passed two resolutions.
Through their first resolution, the PDM leaders condemned the PTI government’s statement linking the opposition’s PDM to India, stating that such a statement was a proof of its frustration. It also “condemned” the allegation of being anti-state being levelled against a three-time premier Nawaz Sharif who had responded to India’s nuclear tests in 1998 by opting for a series of nuclear tests despite international pressure on Pakistan.
The contents of the resolutions were later released to the media by PML-N’s information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb.
The resolution stated that the vision of Quaid-i-Azam regarding the supremacy and rule of the people was PDM’s objective. It also “strongly condemned” the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and termed it an attempt to rig the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan elections.
It pointed out that the people facing the ‘government-created’ inflation, unemployment and heavy taxation wanted to get rid of this administration.
The PML-N supreme leader attended the meeting from London whereas the PPP chairman participated in the proceedings from Karachi after returning from Dubai, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman attended it from Islamabad.
The virtual meeting of the PDM heads was also attended by chief of his own faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) Akhtar Mengal from Dubai, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) President Aftab Sherpao and ANP leader Amir Haider Hoti from Peshawar, Dr Abdul Malik of National Party from Quetta, while the convener attended the meeting via video link from Lahore.
Earlier speaking at a news conference, Marriyum Aurangzeb lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan for calling Nawaz Sharif a “traitor” and an “Indian agent”.
Declaring opponents ‘traitors’ had become a cliché, she said, adding that people like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Asma Jahangir, Akbar Bugti, Habib Jalib and Ahmed Faraz had also been dubbed as traitors in the past.
They picked the face of this movement and he is a person who has nothing to lose and when they both make deals with the military or the government, they will leave the mullah high and dry. Frankly this is becoming a farce and this is a cruel fate when some of the worst political parties in the country that have no democratic background and are running as dynasty are banding together for a movement they call "Democratic". I dont know what is more sad. This farce or the fact that the 'Liberal' and 'Democratic' analysts supporting this
Opposition party chiefs attend first PDM meeting, pass two resolutions
• Events already announced by PPP, PML-N to be held under PDM banner
• Major parties to get key offices on a rotational basis
• Govt slammed for calling political opponents ‘traitors’
ISLAMABAD: Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of his own faction of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-Fazl), has become the first president of the opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) after his unanimous nomination by the heads of all the constituent parties during their first formal meeting through video link on Saturday.
According to PDM’s steering committee convener Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader and deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif proposed Maulana’s name as the alliance president and it was endorsed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and others.
Sources told Dawn that Mr Sharif had initially proposed that Maulana Fazl should be appointed as the president on a permanent basis, but the idea was opposed by Mr Bhutto-Zardari and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Amir Haider Hoti, who suggested that the office should be given on a rotational basis to leaders of the constituent parties.
The sources said there was an agreement among the leaders that the Maulana should lead the PDM in the first phase as he had already led a long march, dubbed as Azadi March, against the present Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government last year.
“Since the Maulana has already done a rehearsal and his party is more disciplined and has the ability to effectively mobilise the masses, therefore, in the first and decisive phase, he is the best choice,” said one of the participants in the meeting.
The sources said most of the participants were of the opinion that in order to maintain ‘continuity’, it was necessary that the tenure of key office-bearers, including that of the PDM president, should not exceed four to six months.
The Maulana’s nomination to lead the movement came only a week before the formal launch of the anti-government campaign by the opposition parties with PDM’s first public meeting scheduled for Oct 11 in Quetta.
Talking to Dawn after the Saturday meeting, which was attended by the leaders of the opposition parties from different cities through video link, Mr Iqbal said it had been decided that the three major parties in the 11-party alliance would share the three top offices of the PDM on a rotational basis. The offices of senior vice-president and the general secretary of the PDM would be given to the PML-N and the PPP.
The final decision about the term of these offices and nominations on other posts, including information secretary, will be made in a meeting of the steering committee to be held on Monday. Also, PDM’s provincial structure would be decided in the steering committee meeting, disclosed the convener who is also the PML-N secretary general.
Besides, he said, the steering committee would finalise programmes of public meetings and future strategy of the PDM.
When asked why the PML-N had announced a separate schedule of its public meetings in Punjab, Mr Iqbal said that the party had initially announced public meetings and rallies to protest the arrest of party president and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif. However, it was decided in the meeting of the PDM party heads that all the upcoming events of the parties would be held under the PDM banner, he said, explaining that the PML-N would extend invitation to all the PDM component parties to attend the October 16 public meeting in Gujranwala. Similarly, he said, all PDM member parties would also participate in the activities that had already been planned by the PPP including an event in connection with the 2007 Karsaz tragedy.
Mr Iqbal said the opposition had decided to launch the movement for the supremacy of the Constitution, democracy, the independent judiciary and for the security of the rights of Pakistanis.
Resolutions
The opposition parties’ heads in their meeting also passed two resolutions.
Through their first resolution, the PDM leaders condemned the PTI government’s statement linking the opposition’s PDM to India, stating that such a statement was a proof of its frustration. It also “condemned” the allegation of being anti-state being levelled against a three-time premier Nawaz Sharif who had responded to India’s nuclear tests in 1998 by opting for a series of nuclear tests despite international pressure on Pakistan.
The contents of the resolutions were later released to the media by PML-N’s information secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb.
The resolution stated that the vision of Quaid-i-Azam regarding the supremacy and rule of the people was PDM’s objective. It also “strongly condemned” the arrest of Shahbaz Sharif by National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and termed it an attempt to rig the upcoming Gilgit-Baltistan elections.
It pointed out that the people facing the ‘government-created’ inflation, unemployment and heavy taxation wanted to get rid of this administration.
The PML-N supreme leader attended the meeting from London whereas the PPP chairman participated in the proceedings from Karachi after returning from Dubai, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman attended it from Islamabad.
The virtual meeting of the PDM heads was also attended by chief of his own faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) Akhtar Mengal from Dubai, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) President Aftab Sherpao and ANP leader Amir Haider Hoti from Peshawar, Dr Abdul Malik of National Party from Quetta, while the convener attended the meeting via video link from Lahore.
Earlier speaking at a news conference, Marriyum Aurangzeb lashed out at Prime Minister Imran Khan for calling Nawaz Sharif a “traitor” and an “Indian agent”.
Declaring opponents ‘traitors’ had become a cliché, she said, adding that people like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Asma Jahangir, Akbar Bugti, Habib Jalib and Ahmed Faraz had also been dubbed as traitors in the past.
Fazl to head anti-govt alliance in first phase
Opposition party chiefs attend first PDM meeting, pass two resolutions.
www.dawn.com
They picked the face of this movement and he is a person who has nothing to lose and when they both make deals with the military or the government, they will leave the mullah high and dry. Frankly this is becoming a farce and this is a cruel fate when some of the worst political parties in the country that have no democratic background and are running as dynasty are banding together for a movement they call "Democratic". I dont know what is more sad. This farce or the fact that the 'Liberal' and 'Democratic' analysts supporting this
