PDM’s Long March put off as PPP opposes resignations

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has postponed its march on the capital, initially planned on the 26th of this month, as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) wanted more time to decide on the matter of resignations from assemblies.

In a short announcement on Tuesday, PDM president Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the PPP requested time because it had reservations on the resignations. Fazl was flanked by PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz and PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani.

The decision came after a high-level meeting of the PDM leadership, in which former president Asif Zardari has reportedly linked former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan with lawmakers’ resignations from the assemblies.

Sources with knowledge of the meeting told Geo News that Zardari held a long video conference with Sharif on Tuesday, in which he urged the PML-N leader to come back to Pakistan.

“Nawaz Sharif Sahib, if you are prepared to fight a war, you will have to return to your country,” sources within the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) quoted Zardari as saying. “If we all are out to fight, then we must all be prepared to go to jail,” Zardari further said to Nawaz.

The PDM leaders had called the meeting in the federal capital to review the political situation in the country after the recently-held Senate polls and by-elections.

The contentious point of the agenda was the resignation from assemblies, which has put the PPP at loggerheads with PML-N and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) who had been calling for opposition lawmakers to resign from Parliament since December. The PPP, however, has been convincing them to opt for an in-house change and use the resignation strategy as a “last resort”.

According to the sources, Zardari told Sharif that “whether it is the long march or a no-confidence motion, you will have to come to Pakistan”. “I am ready for war but my domicile is different [...] Mian Sahib, you represent Punjab” sources further quoted Zardari as saying.

Speaking of resignations from the assemblies, Zardari said the move is tantamount to “strengthening Imran Khan’s position”. The PPP co-chairman also said no decision that sets the parties off on divergent paths must be made. “Any differences between us will only serve the interests of those who are enemies of democracy,” he said.

Zardari, according to the sources, said: “We do not fight from the mountains. We fight from within the Parliament.” The sources said the PPP leader told the PML-N surpremo: “Mian Sahib if you want resignations en masse, then not just us — everyone will have to go to jail.”

The former president urged Sharif to return to Pakistan along with Ishaq Dar. “We will then all fight together,” he was quoted as saying. He also reportedly said while the other opposition parties contested the Senate elections, Dar did not even come to cast his vote. “When you return to Pakistan, we will hand over our resignations to you,” Zardari added. Sources said amid all the insistence by the PPP co-chairman for Sharif to return, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said her father’s “life is in danger” and questioned how he could return under the circumstances. According to PPP sources, Zardari later apologised to Maryam, which she accepted.