PDM steering committee meeting Smaller parties express reservations about PPP and Noon League

 

PDM steering committee meeting Smaller parties express reservations about PPP and Noon League

The future of the PDM may be in jeopardy due to differences. The two major parties are on the same page on the issue of by-elections and Senate elections. Maulana Fazlur Rehman will have to convince Shahbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari on the issue of resignations. Pakistan Point Network Group Editor Mian Muhammad Nadeem's Special Analysis Lahore Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Steering Committee Meeting Smaller parties have expressed concerns about the role of the PPP and the PML-N.

According to credible sources, during the meeting, the smaller parties were accused of resigning and backtracking on the PDM's statement. It should be noted that the Awami National Party (ANP) (Wali Khan Group) in a coalition of 11 parties. Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Jamiat Ahle Hadith, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, National Party (Bizenjo Group), Pakistan Muslim League Noon, Pakistan Peoples Party, Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Pashtun Protection Movement and Qaumi Watan Party.

source said that during today press briefing, Maulana Fazlur Rehmans statement that participation of any leader in the protest has not been declared mandatory, so there is no problem in non-participation is an indication of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto. He was on Zardari's side. He said that there was a lot of tension during the meeting due to differences between the PPP and other member parties on some issues. The PPP due to its political compulsions was at odds with other PDM allies. Different has taken a different stand and everyone wants to run their own way.

Mian Muhammad Nadeem, a senior journalist and group editor of Pakistan Point Network, said that the future of the PDM could be in jeopardy due to these differences, while PDM leaders insisted that the nature of the differences in the alliance Not very serious but it is just a difference of opinion discussed in today's meeting. The reason for the controversy in the PDM is the 8 vacant seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies in the near future and the resignation from the Senate elections and assemblies in March. Are.

The anti-government coalition of opposition parties was formed as a result of the All Parties Conference held on September 20 last year. The 26 points of the Ayajas memorandum included resignations from the National and Provincial Assemblies, but 9 out of 10 member parties used the option of resignation. According to Mian Muhammad Nadeem, this is the main difference in the alliance. He said that the Election Commission has announced to hold by-elections for some seats in the National and Provincial Assemblies. After the announcement of by-elections by the PPP, the Noon League also announced its participation in the by-elections, although Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Muslim on the announcement of the PPP. The PML-N had expressed displeasure, saying that the PPP leadership believed that by boycotting the Senate elections, the opposition parties would pave the way for the ruling party movement as the PPP's interests in the Senate at the moment were different from those of the coalition. Remember so they are not willing to give up on them.

Mian Nadeem, quoting his sources, said that apart from the PPP, all other parties of the PDM were in favor of staying away from the by-elections and the Senate elections and resigning from the Assemblies as soon as possible. Without expressing "different views", the ball was thrown in the court of the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC), which had decided on the contentious issues at its meeting last week, but did not bring them to light.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had said after the CEC meeting that these decisions would be put before the PDM leaders. On the other hand, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz met Maulana Fazlur Rehman in Islamabad. After the meeting, he said that the decisions of the PPP would be discussed at the PDM summit and final decisions would be taken.

Interestingly, according to media reports, the PML-N Central Executive Committee has decided to run in the by-elections and if this news is true, then the PPP and the PML-N have come to the same page on this issue. Now we have to see what path Maulana Fazlur Rehman takes in this regard. Disagreements between the opposition parties and differences of opinion have raised doubts about the survival of the PDM, while a spokesman for the PTI government said that these differences were especially aimed at fueling the PDM. Are presented in the predictions.

Contrary to the PDM's predictions about a dubious future, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said in a statement last week that "we will put our case before them and if they do not agree, we (their) will." Admittedly, however, it is very important here that the decisions of the two major political parties in Pakistan are in the hands of their central leadership, so according to political observers, this statement would have been more important if it had been made by Maryam Nawaz or Shahbaz Sharif. No such statement comes.

Mian Nadeem said that there are serious differences in the PDM but there is no immediate possibility of the alliance ending because despite the differences, the two major parties in the alliance believe that the ruling party has a significant resistance against the PTI. The status of PDM should be maintained. Regarding interests, he said that it is true that every party puts its own political interests first. For example, the Awami National Party (ANP) has been the largest party in KP, but due to the rift within the party, it It has suffered a severe blow, so it has only two options to assert its political existence, either to join the ruling coalition or to join the opposition coalition. The same is true of other smaller parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F). The PML-N has 83 seats, the PPP has 55 seats and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal has 15 seats. Maulana Fazlur Rehman's own party is part of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal. Similarly, Maulana Fazlur Rehman does not have the support of many other parties in the MMA. He said that if Maulana Fazlur Rehman fails to bring the MMA on one page, he will bring all the opposition parties on one page. How to bring ?.

He said that most of the parties in the PDM have barely two, two or one seats. Similarly, 52 senators out of 104 in the Senate are due to retire on March 31, 2021. At present, the three major parties are vying for a majority in the Senate. About 65 per cent of the retired senators, including the PTI, PPP and Noon League, belong to opposition parties, so the PPP is not in favor of boycotting the Senate elections.

Mian Muhammad Nadeem says that according to his sources, the central leadership of PML-N (especially Shahbaz Sharif) is also not in favor of leaving the field empty for PTI in the Senate elections, but instead of taking the blame on their own shoulders, they use the PPP's shoulder. So that the party workers do not feel that their leadership is backing away from its statement.

He said that mainly the parties in the PDM were using psychological tactics against each other. He said that the question could be raised here that the opposition parties in the form of PDM to remove the Imran Khan government. Why is the PPP taking a different path after gathering on one platform? PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari feels the threat to the democratic system in the face of intense anti-government protests. He is of the view that resigning from the opposition assemblies will create a political crisis that could affect the entire system. He said that PPP does not trust the establishment and that is why it is opposing leaving its government in Sindh and resigning from the assemblies. That is why Asif Zardari is also threatening other opposition parties that by-elections and Senate elections will be held. In the event of a boycott, the PTI will gain a majority in both houses of parliament and will have the opportunity to take whatever action it wants.

Referring to the resignations, he said that this method is used in Pakistani politics to increase pressure. The memorandum of the PDM does not mention the date of resignation. He said that the differences in the PDM were due to ideological differences. Besides, there are also interests of the parties. He said that PPP has taken full advantage of this situation and especially by calling Maryam Nawaz to Larkana, they scored points. Maulana Fazlur Rehman took the opposition protest movement from the beginning to the extreme. He is in favor of resigning from the assemblies and abstaining from all kinds of elections. On the contrary, he had put forward a proposal of resignation to the opposition parties immediately after the general elections in 2018, which was rejected by the PPP and Noon League.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman believes that resignations can create a constitutional and political crisis in the country and force the establishment to negotiate with the opposition. However, Asif Ali Zardari believes that the crisis can have bad consequences and such a risk should not be taken. . In order to maintain the PDM in this situation, Maulana Fazlur Rehman is forced to stay with both the major parties and follow the line taken by them. He said that although Maulana Fazlur Rehman managed to persuade Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz to some extent. But the president of PML-N is Shahbaz Sharif and he is also the parliamentary leader of the party in the National Assembly. Similarly, in the largest and most important province of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif's son Hamza Shahbaz is the leader of the opposition and the parliamentary leader of the party. Zardari must be persuaded, which does not seem possible immediately.