After split, Pakistan Democratic Movement issues show cause notices to PPP, ANP

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 5 : After the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) suffered a split earlier this month, it has now served show-cause notices to the outgoing parties - Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP) on Monday.
The development was confirmed by PDM secretary-general Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, although it was not clear on what grounds were the notices issued, Dawn reported.
However, Dawn had earlier reported that the alliance would serve such notices for not attending the alliance meeting on Friday and violating its decision.
Abbasi said the show cause notices were issued after receiving approval from PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
"The notices have been sent on WhatsApp. Hard copies will be handed over during today's Senate session," he said, adding that both the parties have been given seven days to respond to the notices.
He also said though it was not written on the notices that they would be made public by the alliance, both parties can make them public if they choose to do so.
PPP member and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Yousuf Raza Gilani also confirmed that the party has received the notice.
Earlier, the PDM, headed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) leader Rehman, had decided to part ways with PPP and ANP and form a new alliance of five opposition parties having 27 members in the Senate, Dawn reported.
These five parties are PML-N, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), National Party (NP), and Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal).
The decision to part ways was taken at a meeting of senators of five opposition parties, minus the PPP and the ANP, according to a press release by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).
In recent weeks, the war of words inside the PDM has intensified and friction was visible over a slew of the issues. The PPP was accused of siding with the government amid the ongoing tussle between the country's two major opposition parties on the appointment of Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Senate.
The PPP declared that it would not accept Shehbaz Sharif as the opposition leader in the National Assembly if Gilani was not supported by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the upper house of Parliament.
Last month, the PDM postponed its long march planned for later this month, amid differences within the alliance on the issue of resigning from the assemblies.
In the span of six months, the PDM had organised over 15 public gatherings, demanding the resignations of Prime Minister Imran Khan.