KARACHI: In a blow to the opposition parties’ effort to increase pressure on the incumbent government, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has decided not to be a part of the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) protest in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), scheduled to be held on January 19.
A delegation of PPP will attend the protest outside the ECP’s office in Islamabad as Bilawal will visit Umer Kot on the day of the protest and then attend the PDM’s rally planned for Sargodha on January 23.
Meanwhile, speaking to the media after a meeting of the party, PPP’s senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said the leadership and senior members of the party will attend the PDM’s protest as planned. He went on to say that there are currently no clear details regarding the participation of the party’s chief. “Bilawal will look up his schedule to make his presence in the rally certain,” he added.
On last Thursday, Federal Law Minister Barrister Farogh Naseem had said that protest is the basic right of the opposition parties, adding that the law will take its course, if the protesters take the law into their hands.
He had advised the protesters to protest as per the law and said, “Protest is your basic right, but the Supreme Court has stated in the hearing of Faizabad protest case that a protest cannot take place everywhere.”
The PDM has announced the protest as it demands the incumbent government to step down. PDM Chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman has demanded resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan by January 31 and warned of a long march towards Islamabad, if he does not do so.
