Daily Times

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Monday called on the entire nation to march towards the federal capital on March 23 for an anti-government long march.

“People should be ready for staying in Islamabad […] we are not sure till when will the long march last,” Fazl told journalists, shortly after Senator Faisal Javed announced that the PTI’s rally in Islamabad will take place on March 27 and the vote on the no-confidence motion will take place a day after. Fazl made the announcement after a meeting of Opposition parties which was hosted by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif.

A statement issued after the meeting stated that PDM and the joint opposition has decide to hold joint public meeting at the Constitution Avenue. The meeting clarified that in order to save the people of Pakistan from this oppressive, corrupt, incompetent and incompetent government, which was plagued by historical inflation, poverty, unemployment and economic catastrophe, the united opposition, following the path of the constitution, submitted a no-confidence motion. “This government has compromised Pakistan’s economic sovereignty, endangered national interests and undermined important and critical national interests through successive failures on the foreign policy front,” the statement read. “It angered the close and trusted friendly countries and isolated Pakistan in the world. The issue of Jammu and Kashmir, which was illegally occupied by India, was deeply hurt and failed miserably in defending the aspirations and interests of Kashmiris and Pakistanis,” it added.

The statement said that the no-confidence motion tabled by the opposition against the prime minister is a manifestation of the aspirations of the 220 million. “Instead of confronting this constitutional step in the constitutional, legal, parliamentary and democratic spheres, the incompetent prime minister and his government have resorted to unconstitutionality and disorder. Members of the National Assembly are being publicly threatened with being barred from entering the House. The government has announced to hold a rally at D-Chowk as a ploy to intimidate, threaten and coerce. The united opposition made it clear that the government should not take the path of chaos, anarchy and confrontation,” it added.

The statement pointed out that under the constitution, members of the National Assembly have the basic duty and right to perform their constitutional, democratic and parliamentary duties freely. No restrictions can be placed on their movement, nor can they be barred from voting. Depriving them of these responsibilities is tantamount to sabotaging the constitution of Pakistan, the punishment of which is clearly stated in Article 6 of the constitution, it added.

Talking to journalists, Fazl said ANP and PPP have also been invited to partake in the “march”, hoping that their response would be positive. “Our strategy will be different from last time’s long march (in 2019).”

In the meeting, Fazl said the NA speaker was bound by the constitution to call a session on voting on the no-confidence motion after the requisition for the session has been submitted. “If the speaker does not follow this, he is liable to legal action,” Fazl warned, adding that the meeting’s participants also stressed that the session’s first agenda point should be of the no-confidence motion.

Fazl on behalf of the joint opposition urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to decide the PTI’s foreign funding case and alleged that the party was “guilty”.

In response to the PDM chief’s announcement, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said he had already stated that the Opposition was against the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) session in Islamabad. “I had already said that Fazlur Rehman’s real agenda was against the OIC conference. They are not able to accept that OIC foreign minister’s meeting will take place here after 15 years,” Chaudhry said. The information minister warned the opposition that the government was “well aware” of how to deal with “rioters”.