PDM asks PPP, ANP to review decision of parting with alliance

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Tuesday gave the PPP and the ANP, a chance to review their decision of parting ways with the political alliance.

“They still have a chance to contact the PDM leaders and discuss their complaints at an appropriate forum,” Maulana Fazlur Rehman said while addressing a press conference after chairing a meeting of the PDM heads at his residence. He was accompanied by the PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal and Aftab Sherpao.

He said the PDM leadership knew that while formally disassociating with the PDM, the PPP and ANP leaders have sent their resignations to the PDM leadership but still “we ask them review their decision and we are ready to listen to them,” he added.

To a question, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said there was no confusion that the PPP and ANP have decided to part ways with the PDM but immediately he was not accepting their resignations. At the same time, the PDM chief said they did not want to indulge in any series of statements. “It should be considered as the last statement from our side,” he said, adding that the PDM leadership was not expecting that PPP and ANP leadership would make BAP as their supporter.

He said the PDM was an alliance of 10 parties and all decisions were taken with consensus whether it was nomination of the Senate chairman, deputy chairman or the opposition leader in the Senate, saying all the decisions were also written down. “It was an organisational demand that an explanation is called when unanimous decisions are violated,” the PDM chief said. He said if the PPP and the ANP leaders had any reservations, they should have asked for calling a PDM meeting to discuss issuance of show cause notices but instead they made it matter of their ego.

“Keeping in view their respect and ego, we did not even disclose two sentences of the show cause notices,” he said. “The PDM was not formed so that issues are created over some position or the other petty matters”. “We have met many challenges and were always able to sort things out with dialogue,” he further added.

To a question, the PDM chief said he had long association with Yousaf Raza Gilani but regretted that the PPP leadership had damaged the personality of Gilani by nominating him as opposition leader in the Senate. Commenting on Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s act of tearing apart the show cause notice, he said there is difference in age of 70 and 35.

PPP’s Secretary Information Faisal Karim Kundi said if Maulana wants reconciliation then he should tell us who wanted to club the resignations with long march and who is responsible for not complying with the action plan of the PDM.

“Maulana Fazlur Rehman had usurped the opposition leader position in the 2002 assembly despite the fact that the majority in the opposition was of the PPP,” he said in a reaction to the media talk of PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Kundi said Maulana should not turn a political alliance of the PDM into a political party. “The rules of a political party cannot be rules for the political alliance,” he added. He said it is ironic that Maulana is unaware that after issuing show cause notices to the PPP and the ANP, they were leaked to media and the public. He said the majority party has the right to bring its own member as the opposition leader in the National Assembly and the Senate.

The PPP had supported the PML-N for opposition leader in the National Assembly because the PML-N had the majority of opposition members, he added. He said the PML-N already holds two important positions, that of leader of the opposition in the National Assembly and chairman Public Accounts Committee. “Now the PML-N cannot grab every opposition position and dictate other opposition political parties,” he further added. He questioned why the PML-N and the JUI-F are not resigning now.

The PPP Tuesday forwarded the resignations of its members — former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Senator Sherry Rehman and Qamar Zaman Kaira - from the steering committee of the PDM to Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

The PPP leaders had submitted their resignations from the PDM steering committee to PPP’s Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari in the wake of decision of party’s central executive committee. The CEC held its meeting Sunday in Karachi which asked its members to resign from the PDM in protest after receiving the show cause notice from the PDM to explain why they sought support from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) for the slot of opposition leader in the Senate. Bokhari after receiving the resignations sent these to the residence of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

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