PDM’s future line of action next week

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will give the future line of action next week after the expiry of its ultimatum for resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 31.

Sources told The News here on Wednesday that the PDM, in its council of party heads, will repose its confidence in the leadership of its President Maulana Fazlur Rehman and reiterate its position of September last year when an all parties conference (APC) constituted the PDM. The sources said the PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif and PPP supremo Asif Ali Zardari have assured the Maulana that their parties would take ultimate decisions in the light of the PDM position on all national and political issues. They confirmed that Nawaz Sharif has asked Maryam Nawaz to adhere to the standpoint of the PDM and all the decisions should be taken in the light of the PDM position.

He appreciated the process of consultation among the leaders of component parties by declaring it as a healthy approach, the sources said.

The PDM heads council will be meeting in Islamabad in the first week of February, which has been scheduled for February 4. But the possibility of its holding earlier couldn’t be ruled out since the top leadership will be moving to the Azad Kashmir capital on the same or following day to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir on the Kashmir Day, the sources said.

The council of the heads of parties would discuss the proposal for tabling the vote of no-trust against the prime minister, the chief minister Punjab or the speaker National Assembly, which has been extended by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The major subject before the council would be a proposal pertaining to the long march and its tentative schedule.

The question of tendering resignations from the assemblies would continue to be on the table but it would certainly not be a top priority of the movement, the sources said.

The sources revealed that PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari will also address the council through the video link. The PDM will articulate its united position on the Broadsheet scam and issue an extensive statement in the matter encompassing the appointment of a commission under a former SC judge.

The heads of the PDM parties would also discuss the developments regarding the PTI foreign funding case for which the PDM staged a rally outside the headquarters of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on January 19.

The PDM summit meeting will also deliberate on strategy for the upcoming polls on 52 seats of the Senate, the sources said. The parties of PDM will also express their resolve to maintain unity in their ranks since they believe that the party which leave the objectives of the movement and parts ways with it would be ruined in public opinion, the sources added.