| PPP to skip PDM power show
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The PML-N rally led by Maryam Nawaz and Hamza Shehbaz on Monday night entered Islamabad to participate in the joint opposition’s public gathering titled “Inflation March” against the PTI-led government.
The caravans of the constituent parties of the PDM – mainly the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) – had set off for the federal capital from across the country few days ago and are converging on Islamabad today. Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the anti-government alliance, had announced staging a rally in response to ruling PTI’s power show that was held in Islamabad on Sunday amid opposition’s attempt to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan through no-trust vote in National Assembly.
Major opposition leaders including JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Maryam, Hamza, and several others are expected to address the public gathering.
A day earlier, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said that the opposition parties are allowed to hold a public gathering in Islamabad “but if anyone tries to stage a sit-in he will crush it”.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Rashid said JUI-F was given permission to hold a rally in the federal capital and added that he had requested the opposition parties not to change venue or the nature of their public gathering.
The minister added that they have issued show-cause notice to the JUI-F activists to vacate the Srinagar Highway, saying that PML-N was already issued NOC [no-objection certificate] to hold a rally in Islamabad’s H-9 area on March 28 (Monday).
The interior minister said stern action would be taken against those found involved in blocking the roads besides registering a first information reports (FIR) against them.
Meanwhile, The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership has decided against participating in Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) March 28 public gathering in Islamabad.
As per sources privy to the matter, the PPP has decided to send its delegation for joint opposition’s power show in Islamabad while central leaders including party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and former president Asif Ali Zardari would not participate in Islamabad public rally. The party workers will not be called to attend PDM public meetings, as PPP wants to confine the battle to the parliament instead of focussing on street show, they said.
It is to be mentioned here that in the PPP long march that concluded in Islamabad’s D-Chowk on March 8, the PDM parties—PML-N and JUI-F had sent delegations to attend the public meeting as a show of solidarity. The main convoy of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) led by supremo Maulana Fazlur Rehman had reached Islamabad’s G-9 on Saturday night.
