Daily Times

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Tuesday announced to postpone its much-hyped March 23 public gathering in Islamabad due to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in the federal capital on the same day. The grand power show will now take place on March 25.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman asked all the workers – from the Opposition parties – to reach the Federal Capital on the evening of March 25. “The OIC’s (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) foreign ministers are our guests and it is our duty to respect them as they will remain in Islamabad till March 24,” Fazl said while addressing a press conference after a meeting of the opposition parties.

A day earlier, the PDM chief had asked the entire nation to “march” towards Islamabad on Pakistan Day – March 23 – as he sought to hold a massive anti-government rally. But on Tuesday, the PDM chief noted that the Opposition did not “wish” for problems to arise for the OIC foreign ministers during their stay in Pakistan. “The rallies – coming from across Pakistan – should refrain from entering Islamabad on March 23,” Fazl said, whose announcement a day earlier had drawn the government’s ire.

In response to a question about Speaker Punjab Assembly Pervaiz Elahi’s statement, Fazl said the allies will soon part ways with the government. “The picture will become clearer by tomorrow.”