Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Chairman Fazl-ur-Rehman on Monday gave the rulers January 31 deadline to resign. 

Speaking to the media after a meeting of the PDM member parties in Lahore on Monday evening, Fazl said the PDM would announce a date for the long march on February 1 if the rulers do not resign by January 31. He said that some dictator-minded people were trying to make the national media a slave. He once again accused the institutions of interfering in political affairs of the country and warned them against doing so. 

Fazl asked PDM workers to start preparations for the long march. He said that provinces had already been given the schedule for the long march. Referring to PDM’s Lahore rally on December 13, Fazl said it was unprecedented. 

Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz said she would salute her party leaders and workers with both hands for making the Lahore rally a success. She said the Lahore rally was so huge that some people had to stand on the road outside the Minar-e-Pakistan ground due to overcrowding. She said that former prime minister and PML-N senior leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reached the venue of the anti-government gathering by a motorcycle due to the huge traffic on the roads leading to the protest venue. 

The PML-N vice president accused some TV channels of showing bias towards the PDM rally and hiding its massiveness. She however said that foreign media outlets like Al-Jazeera and BBC showed the truth. She said that some news channels started propaganda against the anti-government rally even before she left her home for the rally. She warned these TV channels against indulging in such practices. 

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that all decisions would be made at the PDM platform. He said that time for talks was over. Now it’s time for a long march and Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation, Bilawal said. 

He said that he had submitted an application for a meeting with PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif in a jail in Lahore. He said he was waiting for official permission to meet Shehbaz. He said he wanted to offer his condolences to Shehbaz over the sad demise of his mother. He said it was a tradition; he offered his condolences to Maryam Nawaz a few days ago and now he wanted to offer his condolences to Shehbaz. He said that Imran Khan should resign.