Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Chairman Fazlur Rehman said on Friday that opposition parties would decide whether they needed to march on Islamabad or Rawalpindi.
Addressing a press conference after a five hours long meeting of heads of the PDM allied parties in Lahore on Friday evening, Fazl said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was just a puppet and the opposition would now talk about his handlers. He said the establishment had taken the entire system hostage. In a veiled reference to the GHQ, Fazl said the PDM would decide which gate should be chosen to stage a demonstration.
Fazl said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was created to victimise the political rivals and accountability was being used as a card. He announced the PDM would hold demonstrations outside the offices of the NAB and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on January 19.
Answering a question about GDA leader Muhammad Ali Durrani’s meeting with him a day earlier, Fazl said Durrani came with his philosophy of national dialogue, but he came without any plan. He said he told Durrani that opposition parties would not hold talks with the government in any case.
Referring to the upcoming by-elections, the PDM chief said that opposition parties would take part in the by-elections. However, he said that decision on participation would be taken at appropriate time. He said the victimisation policy of the government would not work now. He said that PML-N leader Khawaja Muhammad Asif’s arrest could not be ignored. He said that even arrests would not stop the movement. He said that PDM’s movement was not against any national institution.
Answering a question about Pakistan People’s Party’s reluctance in tendering resignations from assemblies, Fazl said the PPP had no reservations about the plan to resign from assemblies. He said that PPP leaders came to Friday’s meeting with their suggestions and outcome of these suggestions was quite positive. He said the government had one month to decide.
Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz said all lawmakers of her party had submitted her their resignations. She said nobody would say no once the party leadership orders them to resign. She said that opposition parties could field joint candidates in the upcoming by-elections. She said the bogus government would not be given a walkover.