Pakistan lawmakers to resign en masse to paralyse government: Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Pakistan Democratic Movement chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman address a rally. File photo
Tariq Butt, Correspondent
Even before the announcement of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) asking federal and provincial lawmakers of their component parties to hand over their resignations to their respective parliamentary leaders, some legislators have delivered such papers to them.
Over a dozen federal and provincial members from Sargodha, Karachi and Lahore belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) given their resignations to their parliamentary leaders.
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The resignations are part of the anti-government protest of the PDM. Those who have done so include Malik Afzal Khokar and his brother Saiful Malook Khokhar, Hamid Hameed, Rana Munawar Ghous, Iftakhar Chacher, Muhammad Bashir Virk, Ali Haider Gilani, Azma Bokhari and her husband, Sohaib Ahmad, Mahmood Virk, Safdar Shakir, Mazhar Qayyum Nehra, Raheela Khadim Hussain, Samiullah and others.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari speaks to the media. File photo
PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced after a meeting of the alliance, attended by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and other top leaders that the session decided that the lawmakers will hand over their resignations to their parliamentary heads before Dec 31.
A meeting of the PDM steering committee was held on Wednesday to devise anti-government demonstrations across Pakistan. He reiterated that the alliance would hold its "historic rally” at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore on Dec 13 come what may and warned the government against creating any hurdles for the opposition parties.
PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz speaks to the press conference. File photo
He said the decision to resign from the assemblies en masse was made unanimously by the constituent parties of the PDM. "The opposition will not disappoint the nation."
The PDM president said the opposition parties would not withdraw their resignations like the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had done in 2014. About reports that Prime Minister Imran Khan has sought a national dialogue with the opposition, Rehman said the PDM rejects the offer. "He is not worthy of a dialogue. We will not give him an NRO [amnesty].”
