-Won’t resign from assemblies at any cost, PPP tells PDM
-Zardari tells Nawaz to return and face the heat with others
-Fazal says there will be no Long March without resignations
By Ajmal Khan Yousafzai
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday announced that the long march scheduled for March 26 has been postponed owing to differences over the resignations option.
Addressing a presser after the consultative meeting of the PDM, Fazlur Rehman, who was flanked by PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz and PPP’s Yousuf Raza Gilani, said that the meeting discussed the long march and linked it with the resignations from the assemblies.
“Nine parties in the PDM have supported the idea of resignations while the PPP has expressed reservation over it and sought time to re-consult regarding the option within the party,” he said.
Fazlur Rehman announced that the long march has been postponed unless a decision is being taken on the matter of the resignations. “There will be no long march without resignations,” he said as he walked out from the presser.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday clearly told his fellow PDM leaders that his party’s lawmakers won’t resign from assemblies at any cost and demanded that PML-N Supreme Leader Mian Nawaz Sharif should fly back to the country “for a decisive battle” with the government. Addressing a Pakistan Democratic Movement meeting in Lahore through video link, the former president maintained that going for a last-resort option like mass resignations will only strengthen the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
He was of the view that he himself served a 14-year-long jail term so if Nawaz Sharif is serious in his battle for democracy, then he should fly back to country. Maryam Nawaz responds: PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz Sharif, while responding to Asif Zardari’s statement, said that her party, despite being the biggest party in the country, supported this alliance and she herself is staying in the country despite all the difficulties she had faced.
Maryam Nawaz said that she has fears for her father Mian Nawaz Sharif’s life in NAB custody as he also suffered two heart attacks in the bureau’s custody in the past. “Nawaz Sharif participates (in PDM meetings) through video link as you are doing it right now,” said Maryam Nawaz.
