-Khaqan suggests PPP to rebuild trust before it can rejoin PDM
By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Tuesday PPP and ANP could rejoin the alliance if they apologised to the anti-government movement for going against its decisions.
The PDM chief’s comments came during his meeting with PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif at the latter’s residence in Lahore.
PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, PML-N Deputy Secretary-General Attaullah Tarar, and JUI-F leaders Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Maulana Asad Mahmood were in attendance during the meeting.
Fazl, addressing a press conference after the meeting, said both parties, PPP and ANP, had been given sufficient time to get back to the PDM leadership, but they have not done so.
“There are currently no proposals to invite PPP and ANP at the PDM meeting on May 29,” he said. However, during the meeting, the leaders will decide the future of PPP and ANP in the alliance.
Besides, PDM Secretary General Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday categorically stated that there was no place for the PPP within the opposition alliance until it restored the trust it had betrayed.
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, the PML-N leader said that PDM had not extended an invitation to the PPP. “PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has clearly stated that [the PPP] needs to review its decisions. They need to restore the trust that they have betrayed.” He said the opposition alliance was formed for a particular purpose. “If you are not committed to trusting the movement, then there is no place for you within the PDM.”
Asked whether he would resign as secretary general if the PPP rejoins PDM, Abbasi said: “The PPP can’t just rejoin the movement. They can only do so once they restore their trust in the PDM. The alliance does not have a revolving-door policy that you break its trust, leave the movement and try to come back again when you face difficulties.
“The door is closed. The door will only open when you rebuild the trust,” he said. He added that the PDM had sought a response from the PPP, which Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had torn into pieces.
“We had asked for a response. Join together the torn pieces [of the show-cause notice], read it and give us the clarification we had sought,” he said.
Abbasi, in his capacity as the PDM secretary general, had issued show-cause notices to the PPP and the Awami National Party for nominating Yousuf Raza Gilani as the opposition leader in the Senate “in violation of the unanimous decision” of the alliance.
Shortly after the ANP quit the PDM over “its hijacking by some member parties”, Bilawal had tore apart the show-cause notice issued by the alliance in a clear message that the future relied entirely on mutual respect. The Central Executive Committee of the PPP had also asked all the party members to resign from their positions in the alliance.
