PDM gives PTI govt Jan 31 ultimatum to resign or else face long march

LAHORE:

Fresh from the conclusion of the first phase of its ant-government campaign that saw six opposition rallies in all the four provinces, the 11-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) changed gear on Monday, setting a deadline for the government to quit by January 31.

Leaders of the 11 constituent parties met in Lahore for four hours, after holding the overnight public gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan, to sign the ‘Lahore Declaration’ that said that alliance leadership would unveil plans for a long march on the federal capital, if the government did not resign.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, PDM President and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that all lawmakers from the opposition parties would submit their resignations from the assembly seats to their respective party leadership by December 31.

“Today, we want to make clear to the government that it should resign by January 31,” Fazl, flanked by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, told reporters.

 

“And if the government does not resign, the final date of the long march towards Islamabad will be announced on February 1,” the PDM chief added, appealing to the nation “to start preparations for the long march from today”.

Fazl said that the schedule for the long-march given to the provincial leaders of the PDM by the alliance’s steering committee would remain unchanged. He added that the PDM leaders expressed anger that the electronic media was pressured to air negative propaganda against the Lahore rally.

Speaking at the press conference, Maryam Nawaz said that the success of Sunday’s Lahore rally had sent shockwaves in the government echelons. “Now, we have gone to the people’s court so the selected ones as well as their selectors will have to step back,” she added.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also endorsed her views and repeated his earlier statement that the time for any negotiations with the government was over. “Now is not the time for talks but the time for Imran Khan’s resignation,” he said.

Fazl said that following Sunday’s “historic” PDM public gathering at the Minar-e-Pakistan, the PDM leaders signed a detailed communique, detailing the opposition’s objectives, during their four hours long meeting on Monday.

The communique, entitled ‘Lahore Declaration’, which was released to the media, accused the government of an all-round failure and said that it was necessary to save the nation from the current crisis before the country went bankrupt.

“The current government, responsible for the rigging of 2018 elections and the worst crises facing the country on the economic, political and external fronts, should resign by January 31, 2021. Otherwise, a decisive long march against the current rulers will be announced on February 1, 2021 …” it said.

It said the PDM leaders pledged to create a Pakistan where the sanctity of the Constitution took precedence, all state organs were subject to an elected administration and parliament and judiciary were independent and could take decisions without any pressure.

“Today, the people of Pakistan, especially the poor middle class and the youth, are suffering the worst inflation, unemployment and social insecurity and their predicaments were increasing day-by-day. Therefore, it added: “This selected hybrid system should be dismissed, immediately.”

The declaration called for establishing “a truly representative government in the country through free, fair and transparent elections, which will take immediate and far-reaching steps for economic reforms and implement a strategy of economic development based on social justice”.

The PDM parties pledged to provide a better quality of life to the people, free the country from the debt trap, rid the masses of poverty, inflation, unemployment, illiteracy and disease, and to eliminate social and economic inequalities and modernise the national economy.

They vowed to promote good governance on the principles of merit, transparency and public service; promote tolerance and brotherhood in the country, eradicate extremism, and all sorts of interference in politics by the establishment.

Cases lodged

As warned by the government, law took its course after the PDM public gathering, as three cases were registered on Monday. Two first information reports (FIRs) were lodged with the Lari Adda police station on the complaint of security staff of the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA), while another FIR was lodged on the complaint of Tehsildar Ismail Shahid.

At the Lari Adda police station, one FIR was registered on the complaint of security supervisor Muhammad Yousaf and another one on the complaint of Zeeshan Haider Naqvi against the hosts of the PDM assembly for forcefully entering in the public park by breaking locks, making rally arrangements and holding public gathering.

Another FIR was registered against shopkeepers Mian Shahid, Mian Imran and buyer Muhammad Shafique for selling around 7,000 plastic chairs for the PDM public gathering in violation of coronavirus safety standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The PHA had also prepared another application for registration of cases against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders and dozens of unidentified workers. The authority had pleaded that the sanctity of the historic site was ruined and damaged was caused to the public property. The authority had also estimated losses, which would be recovered for the hosts of the PDM public gathering.

Govt unfazed

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that those who were making fuss over a so-called successful public gathering at Greater Iqbal Park were greatly disappointed and the PDM leadership, especially Maryam Nawaz, was in a shock and dilemma.

She alleged that the PML-N leaders were blaming each other for the failed rally in their stronghold. The reason behind the failure of Maryam Safdar’s power show was not the workers but the PDM’s anti-state narrative as no conscious person and a patriotic Pakistanis would stand with their anti-Pakistan narrative, she added.

She said that it seems that resignations by the PDM parliamentarians were only a political drama because these people were giving dates after dates. “Those who have to resign do not wait rather they just do it,” she said. “December 8, December 13 have passed and now December 31 will also pass.”

Awan said that the PDM leaders themselves were confused and had no strategy and added that they were just making hollow claims to win some political mileage. The alliance of “Maulana, Bilawal and Maryam is planning chaos in the country to revive their dead politics”.

“The princess, the prince and Maulana Sahib, along with their henchmen, are making fun of themselves by talking about overthrowing the constitutionally-elected government,” Awan said. “Politically immature children of former corrupt leaders are trying to intimidate a democratic government by staging flop shows and [by creating] commotion.”

The PDM leaders were only concerned with saving the corruption of their families and they did not care about the people, Awan charged, and asked: “What could the opposition achieve by issuing ‘I do not believe in writ of the govt’ and by showing disregard to the country’s prime institutions.”

She said that the people were fully aware of the real motive behind such public gatherings. “The Lahorites rejected the PDM corrupt alliance by not participating in Lahore public meeting. The people are fed up with the failed third-class film show,” she said. She also claimed that at the time of the anti-state speech of the fugitive from London, there were empty seats.

In order to resolve the problems facing the Pakistanis and to remove their deprivations, Prime Minister Imran Khan made the right decisions in difficult circumstances, which were appreciated by the whole world, Awan added.