ISLAMABAD: JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman was Saturday chosen as the head of 11-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to lead the opposition’s anti-government movement.
The decision to name Fazl as the PDM head was taken in a virtual meeting of heads of opposition parties.
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, ex-prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Amir Haider Hoti, Dr Abdul Malik, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Hashim Baabar, Owais Noorani, Sherry Rehman, Yusuf Raza Gilani, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Senator Sajid Mir, Moshin Dawar, Ahsan Iqbal and others attended the meeting.
Nawaz Sharif proposed the name of Fazl, which was seconded by all the parties.
According to sources, Bilawal proposed that the PDM should be headed on rotation and tenure basis so that every party should have a chance to lead the alliance.
The PPP view was supported by progressive parties including the ANP, National Party and also by Sardar Akhtar Mengal. However, the PML-N and JUI-F did not agree to Bilawal.
Sources said it was decided that the issue of rotation of head and other office-bearers of the Movement would be discussed in a meeting expected to be held on Monday. Sources said the PDM had also decided to sign a New Charter of Pakistan signed by all the political parties so that no component could deviate from the charter. This signing of Charter of Pakistan was proposed by Fazl.
It was decided that a committee be formed for drafting the Charter of Pakistan. The committee would be finalised in a meeting of the PDM Steering Committee scheduled to be held on Monday.
Talking to reporters after the PDM meeting, PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal announced the appointment of Fazlur Rehman as the PDM head.
He said Nawaz Sharif had proposed the name of JUI-F chief seconded by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He said the issue of rotation of the PDM head and offices-bearers would be deliberated in a meeting of the Steering Committee. The committee would also finalize the future line of action of the protest movement.
He said all the public rallies would be held from the platform of the PDM. He said all the parties of PDM had expressed their confidence in Fazl.
He said the PDM meeting also adopted a number of resolutions. Some of these resolutions are hereunder.
- The government linking the PDM to India is proof of its delusions
- To declare a three-time prime minister, under whose leadership Pakistan successfully conducted nuclear tests, an enemy of the state is condemnable
- We strongly condemn Shahbaz Sharif's arrest
- The arrest of Opposition politicians is a "conspiracy to steal" the Gilgit-Baltistan mandate
- PDM's constitutional and democratic struggle will not be stopped
- People want freedom from the "fake government" which has brought them nothing but inflation, unemployment, and economic destruction.
Ahsan Iqbal said the PDM's constitutional and democratic struggle would not stop. He said people wanted freedom from what he called the "fake government" that had brought them nothing but inflation, unemployment, and economic destruction.
He said the arrest of Opposition Leader and President PML-N Shahbaz Sharif was a conspiracy to steal the upcoming elections in Gilgit Baltistan.
The PDM will revise its deadline for staging public gatherings/rallies and taking out long march by end of December.
The idea has been floated by Nawaz Sharif and agreed to by the component parties.
Well-placed political sources said Nawaz had asked Fazl to lead the opposition’s campaign in late August this year. Since then, the two were in discussions and ultimately Fazl assumed the slot by consensus.
Sources said the component parties would have the slot of vice president and their name would be announced in the steering committee meeting. The overall political situation prevailing in the country and people’s response to the PDM programme were discussed. The participants were satisfied that the masses had discarded the government’s propaganda against the PDM.
Leaders from Balochistan briefed the PDM about their preparations for holding the first public meeting of the Movement on October 11 in Quetta. They assured the fellow leaders that the Quetta public gathering would lay the foundation of a new history for realization of democratic objectives of the PDM.
The public meeting would be addressed by Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Asfandyar Wali Khan, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch, Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao and Fazlur Rehman.