PDM chief Fazl asks opposition partners to stay united for democracy in Pakistan

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 14 : In an attempt to save the united opposition from against Imran Khan government, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief and head of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Tuesday asked the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) to "reconsider" their decision of quitting the opposition's alliance of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).
"I want to say it in categorical terms that the PDM is a very serious forum. It is an alliance that was established to achieve objectives of serious nature at the national level and not for fighting over some offices," said the Maulana, adding that for them, the future of democracy and politics in Pakistan is more important, reported Dawn.
He said that at a time when Pakistan was "economically sinking" and the people of the country were suffering and facing miseries, they would not make decisions on the basis of personal benefits or losses.
He also declared that the PDM will continue its struggle to achieve its objectives even if the two parties do not return to its fold, reported Dawn.
"They (PPP and ANP) still have an opportunity to review their decisions and approach the PDM. We can remove their grievances when we will sit together," said the Maulana while talking to reporters after presiding over the first meeting of the alliance after withdrawal of PPP and ANP from the alliance.
After the decisions of the PPP and ANP to leave the opposition's alliance, the PDM has now been reduced to an eight-party alliance.
The Maulana, who resumed his political activities after nearly two weeks, termed the reaction of the two parties to the show-cause notices issued to them for allegedly violating the PDM's unanimous decision "immature and not in keeping with their political stature and experience", reported Dawn.
The JUI-F chief said that the PPP and ANP should not have made the show-cause notices an issue of "self-respect" and they should have responded to the notices in a "dignified manner".
The two parties, he said, could have called for convening a meeting of the heads of the PDM or the steering committee to explain their viewpoint and resolve the matter. However, he regretted, the PPP and ANP chose to respond to the notices through the media, reported Dawn.
Earlier, it was reported that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during the two-day meeting of his party's Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Karachi had torn apart the show-cause notice.
The ANP had already announced on April 5 that it was withdrawing from the PDM in protest over issuance of the show-cause notice to it for supporting Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani's candidature for the office of the opposition leader in the Senate.
The PPP also formally announced its decision to part ways with the PDM and sent resignations of those who were holding the PDM offices, including its vice-president Raja Pervez Ashraf.
Confirming that he had received the resignations of the PPP and ANP leaders, Maulana Fazlur Rehman said he had not accepted them yet as he wanted to give another chance to both the parties.