PDM to begin long march on March 26
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has decided to march on Islamabad beginning March 26. The announcement came after a meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement in Islamabad.
Caravans from across the country will leave for Islamabad on March 26, Fazl told reporters.
He also announced that the 11-party alliance will not compete against each other in the forthcoming Senate elections. “We have decided to stand in the Senate elections together, and we will follow a joint strategy. We won’t fight each others’ candidates.”
“It appears that the PTI does not trust its own candidates. PTI’s leadership wants to make some unlikable people senators and its own workers don’t want to vote for the candidates,” he said. Maulana Fazl said the PDM has decided to stand with the masses against the surging electricity, gas, and petroleum prices. “The PDM will join the people and is willing to sacrifice itself in the fight against the government over this issue.”
The PDM also rejected the appointment of ex-Supreme Court judge Sheikh Azmat Saeed’s one-man Broadsheet inquiry commission. “It [the PDM] believes this is an attempt to hide the government’s corruption,” Rehman said.
He also commented on the Supreme Court’s taking notice of the government’s use of uplift funds. “Today, in the manner in which development funds are being distributed — Imran Khan himself likened it to bribing candidates — the PDM believes such moves should be halted,” the PDM chief said.
He also said the anti-government alliance will fully support a planned protest of government servants on February 10. “The PDM will be with them and supports them on every issue,” he said.
PDM on PTI’s foreign funding case
On the PTI foreign funding case, he said, the SBP “has identified 23 accounts — 18 of which have been hidden”. Maulana Fazl said the Prime Minister’s call for open proceedings is a “drama”. He demanded the Election Commission of Pakistan to decide on the issue forthwith.
He also announced that the opposition’s protests against the “unjust” behavior of the Speakers of the Senate and National Assembly will continue. Fazl said: “Transparency International has deemed the people who call everyone else thieves the most corrupt.”
