The PML-N on Friday criticised the PPP’s move to secure the post of opposition leader in Senate, regretting it as a ‘setback’ for the 10-party alliance. “If Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) senators have to be included to secure the post, then PDM’s objectives, its struggle and the opposition alliance have indeed suffered a setback,” former interior minister and PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said, making reference to the support given to Yousaf Raza Gilani’s candidature by four ‘independents’ otherwise associated with BAP. “It is against the objectives of the PDM,” Iqbal told a presser in Jati Umra in Lahore along with Rana Sanaullah and Azam Nazeer Tarar, the PDM’s nominee for the position. “If the post [of Senate opposition leader] was so important for the PPP, they could have asked us, and we would have given it to them,” he added. Referring to Gillani’s nomination as a ‘suspicious transaction’, Ahsan Iqbal said such a move is not in line with the PDM’s ‘transparent politics’. “If this slot was so necessary for the PPP, the party should have spoken to Nawaz Sharif about it. He would have happily ceded the post to them,” he said. Referring again to the independents, Iqbal said ‘entire Islamabad knows on whose directions they vote’. The PML-N leader maintained that smaller parties fully supported Azam Nazir Tarar as per the decision of the alliance. “27 senators had expressed confidence in Tarar,” he stated. “JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Hasil Bizenjo’s National Party, Akhtar Mengal [Balochistan National Party], Mahmood Khan Achakzai [Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party] and other leaders had supported him [Tarar],” he added. Lamenting that the ANP also supported Gilani, Iqbal announced to take up the matter with the PDM leadership. “The ANP took a unanimous decision [against the aspirations of the alliance],” he observed. “The PDM is not [a] homeopathic [alliance], but is very lethal,” he said as he warned that those backtracking from the alliance’s objectives will remain in loss. “Whoever betrayed PDM will pay an unimaginable price and any political party wanting to see its politics flourish must not back away from PDM’s objectives,” he added. In response to a question, the PML-N leader said the PDM will not be affected by the exclusion of one or two political parties. He said the alliance represents the aspirations of 220 million Pakistanis, adding that it will continue to perform its role in the future as well. “Our manifesto remains alive,” he added. “PDM is the centre of the hopes of Pakistan’s 220 million people,” said Iqbal, adding that the people wanted this ‘game of musical chairs’ to come to an end and for the country to be run in accordance with the constitution. “The PDM’s objectives will not be disturbed by a party moving forward or back. PML-N will keep playing this role through PDM and its own platform,” he said, and expressed the hope that the PPP will consider that “everyone’s unity is in the struggle we are doing from PDM”. PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said that the matter would be taken up in a meeting of the leaders of the PDM’s constituent member parties and “whatever decision is taken there will decide the future of the PDM”. “It’s a political retaliation; the alleged videos of NAB chairman are with Shehzad Akbar,” he claimed.