PML-N changes date of Islamabad-bound march

LAHORE:

With voting on no-confidence motion not expected on March 27, the PML-N on Wednesday changed the date of its Islamabad-bound antiinflation march, which was scheduled to start on the 24th of this month, to March 26.

The marchers will reach Rawalpindi on March 28 instead of 27th.

According to a circular issued by the PML-N, the march would now begin on March 26 from the party’s central Secretariat in Lahore. Then travelling on GT road, the marchers would make their first overnight stay in Gujranwala. The next overnight stay of the caravan would be in Jhelum. The marchers would reach Rawalpindi on March 28.

The PML-N has not disclosed as to what it would do after that, but according to party parliamentarian, the caravan would also enter Islamabad on the same day. PML-N MNA Waheed Alam Khan said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – an alliance of opposition parties – would decide where they would stage a rally in Islamabad by Thursday.

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According to another party MNA, Chaudry Armaghan Subhani, the march would still be led by PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, and her cousin, leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz. According to the circular which was issued earlier, the party had announced that it would begin their march on March 24 and reach Islamabad by 27th for the PDM rally.

MNA Armaghan Subhani told The Express Tribune that as the voting was not expected on March 27, there was no point in marching on Islamabad on that day. “As voting is expected between March 28 and 30, depending on how long the debate is stretched, holding a rally close to these dates is more practical,” he added.

When asked about the PML-N planning to stage a sit-in Islamabad as its activists were asked to come prepared for one to two more days in the previous circular, the MNA replied that the party had no plan of holding a sit-in for now.