Rahbar Committee fails to agree on Fazl as head of PDM

Opposition parties meeting forms three committee to follow up on APC decisions

ISLAMABAD:

The Rahbar Committee of the opposition parties in its meeting on Wednesday finalised its recommendations, following up on Sunday’s all parties conference, which would be sent to the top leaderships for taking decisions.

The committee could not agree on making Maulana Fazlur Rehman as the newly-formed Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), sources said, adding that the meeting proposed setting up three committees on various issues.

According to sources, it was decided in the meeting that smaller parties should be given representation, including the leadership of the three proposed committees. The participants also proposed that the smaller parties should be authorised to contact other parties.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Akram Khan Durrani and attended by 11 representatives of the opposition parties. The meeting discussed strategies for implementing the decisions taken in the APC.

During the meeting, the sources said, some parties suggested that Fazl should be appointed as head of the new alliance, formed during the APC. However, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) said that the Rahbar Committee was not mandated to make recommendations for the head of a bigger office.

The meeting suggested that the Rahbar Committee should be allowed to function in the future as week. The participants agreed to the formation of three committees on various issues, but could not finalise names of their members.

Sources said that one committee would be set up in the Parliament House on the issue of no-confidence motion and resignation of the lawmakers, the second committee would be responsible for strategy and protests, while the third committee would coordinate among all the parties.

The Rahbar committee demanded of the top leaderships to formulate the PDM structure soon and work out a strategy. The meeting recommended that the central leaders be consulted online if they were not available for any reason.

At a press conference after the meeting, convenor Akram Durrani said that the APC had now become the PDM and the top leaderships of the constituent parties would decide about the future of Rahbar Committee. “The APC has created a stir,” Durrani said.

Responding to a question, whether Fazl would appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in assets beyond means inquiry, Durrani said that the decision in this regard would be taken after consultation within the party.

On the occasion Awami National Party (ANP) leader Mian Iftikhar said that he had been receiving threats since 2010 but he would not budge. “My son and two young men were martyred in a suicide attack on my house, but I did not budge,” he said. “I will stand firm for the homeland.”

Regarding the meeting with the military leadership, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Abdul Rahim Ziartwal said that the his party as well as the National Party were not invited to the “dinner”, adding: “We don’t know who was called.”