Opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has announced to march on inflation in March next year. PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that people from all over the country will come to Islamabad to participate in the inflation march. When and how to play the resignation card, we will decide at our own discretion when the time comes, he said.
According to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PDM meetings will be convened at the provincial level in connection with the preparations for the Inflation March to work out relevant strategies. PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif in Punjab, Fazlur Rehman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan Achakzai in Balochistan, and Owais Noorani in Sindh will convene a meeting to make preparations in this regard.
Importantly, the opposition alliance has termed the long march against the government as an inflation march, while the demand for resignation and long march was at the top of the list of recommendations presented at the meeting of the steering committee of the opposition leadership.
Regarding the resignations, Maulana Fazlur Rehman clarified that this issue was discussed in the meeting, however, it is up to the PDM to decide when and how to implement it, while the long march has now changed to the inflation march.
Apart from the deadline for resignations from the assemblies and the long march, the boycott of the local bodies and by-elections was also expected to be announced at the PDM summit. However, due to differences between the opposition, the term sit-in is being avoided.
Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry said that the opposition alliance has reached its natural age but Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been trying to end this system and Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz appear with Maulana Fazlur Rehman because they are not part of the system, those who are in the system do not support such strategy.
The government’s position on the PDM is also largely correct as the PDM has failed to create any particular problems or difficulties for the government since its inception because of the different agendas and ideologies of different parties, the alliance has failed to achieve its goals. A major opposition party, the PPP, has not been part of the coalition, and the PPP is still seen on one side and the rest of the opposition on the other.
Due to differences between the opposition parties, the PDM is trying to keep itself alive in public by giving up the options of sit-in and long march. If the PPP insists on resigning, then the PML-N is insisting on a no-confidence motion and both the parties are not ready to back down from their respective positions or make appropriate amendments.
The PDM leadership will be able to create difficulties for the government only if it is self-sufficient. However, the opposition leadership itself is fragmented at the moment due to which sit-ins, marches or any other action cannot be a challenge to the government. Therefore, the opposition leadership will have to resolve their differences and build consensus before considering the options of overthrowing the government.
