PDM's alliance unnatural, destined to disintegrate: FM Qureshi

Says people of different views have gathered under the umbrella of PDM to secure an NRO and get relief in their cases

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that the alliance of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) was unnatural, and was destined to disintegrate.

The remarks of the foreign minister came a day after the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) announced to contest the upcoming Senate elections. However, the PPP also endorsed almost all decisions of the PDM, including resigning from assemblies.

FM Qureshi stressed that people of different views had gathered under the umbrella of PDM to secure the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and get relief in their cases.

"The meeting of the PPP's Central Executive Committee has made it clear that the PPP has withdrawn from the PDM's narrative," the foreign minister added.

Qureshi maintained that if PPP been serious in tendering resignations from assemblies en bloc, they would not have desired for taking part in by-elections.

On December 29, PPP's in its Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting at the Bilawal House, also decided to challenge the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led governments at the Centre and in other provinces through no-confidence motions in the National Assembly, Punjab Assembly and others.

The hours-long CEC meeting was jointly chaired by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari. After the meeting, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari addressed a press conference along with senior party leaders.

“We don’t backtrack on the PDM decisions made at the all parties conference (APC), but we want to send the selected and incompetent government of Imran Khan packing. If he does not resign till January 31, our deadline given to him, then we will kick him out,” Bilawal told reporters.

The CEC after long deliberations endorsed the PDM action plan about long march and en mass resignations, the date of which is yet to be announced, he said. “I am sharing with you the decision of our CEC meeting, but final decision will be made with the consensus of the PDM leaders,” he added.

Sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune that during the CEC meeting, some PPP leaders opposed the idea of tendering resignations from Sindh Assembly and proposed a struggle inside parliament by bringing a no-confidence motion against the PTI-led government.

“If we don’t contest the Senate election, we will be out of the upper house of parliament for five to six years, so not only we avail this opportunity, but we must convince the PML-N [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz] and other leaders to jointly contest against the PTI in Senate election,” a PPP leader, who attended the CEC meeting, told The Express Tribune, on condition of anonymity.

Other party sources said that the PPP was also not inclined to lose the Sindh government in the prevailing political environment and suggested that the party could prefer resignation from the National Assembly if the situation warranted.

“Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari was opposed to playing all cards at this moment,” said a source. “Let’s mount pressure on the government by organising a long march and negotiate with the PTI coalition partners at Centre and in Punjab to bring the no-confidence motions. The resignations are the last option,” the source quoted Zardari as telling the PPP CEC.