ISLAMABAD: The top leaders of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Saturday held a telephonic conversation and discussed the way forward following the defeat of their candidates for the election of chairman and deputy chairman in the Senate.
Sources in the opposition alliance told Pakistan Today that the PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, former premier Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari expressed their determination to probe the reasons that led to the defeat of their candidates in the Senate elections.
Sources said that Fazl and Nawaz pressed Zardari to shift focus from the Senate elections and in-house change to long march and resignations from the assemblies. The sources said that the preparations for the long march and the future strategy of the PDM were also discussed during the telephonic meeting.
“Fazl said that now the long march will not be beneficial without resignations. The election for the Senate chairman slot and rejection of votes were also discussed. The trio also discussed that how the government’s candidate got all those votes in the election for the Senate deputy chairman,” the sources said.
They added that the three leaders agreed to check the opposition members, who are close to Sadiq Sanjarani. It was also agreed that the issue of Senate elections will also be considered in the PDM summit, scheduled to be held on Monday.
PDM LEADERS TO MEET ON MONDAY:
The sources said that an emergency meeting of the PDM will be convened in Islamabad on Monday, and it will be attended by leaders of all political parties. The meeting will discuss the political situation in the country.
“All the parties will present a report on the defeat in the election for the Senate chairman and deputy chairman. They would probe how the seven votes of the Opposition were dubious and rejected,” the sources claimed.
They said the meeting would also discuss the concerns of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) about getting less votes in the deputy chairman election. The strategy for the long march, scheduled to be held on March 26, will also be finalised in the meeting, they added.
