PPP, PML-N to stay away from sit-in – Newspaper

ISLAMABAD: Respecting its previous position, the two main opposition parties of the country, the Muslim League of Pakistan-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP), announced Friday that they will not be part of the sitting announced by The head of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman in the great public demonstration.

The leaders and officials of both sides said they had already told Maulana in categorical terms that they would only attend the public meeting and would not support any sitting.

Read: In a letter to Shahbaz, Nawaz tells PML-N that & # 39; guarantee that Azadi March is a success & # 39;

They said they had not issued any specific directive to their workers and activists regarding participation in the sit-in.

"We came just for one day," said PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal as he spoke with Dawn.

Iqbal, who also addressed the participants of the Azadi march with PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif, said that even the supreme party leader, Nawaz Sharif, had asked them to participate in the Azadi march only for one day.

Nawaz Sharif asked his party leaders to attend the Azadi march for just one day, says Ahsan Iqbal

Mr. Iqbal, who was preparing to go to Maulana Fazl's residence for a meeting of the heads of the opposition parties, said that the PML-N workers had participated in the Azadi march and in the public meeting with full enthusiasm. However, he said, the party had made no call for a sit-in to its workers.

Similarly, PPP Secretary General Farhatullah Khan Babar said that his party leadership had made it clear during the multi-party conferences (MPC) and Rehbar Committee meetings that his party would not participate in an "indefinite dharna." "

When he was told that until now it had only been a two-day sitting, Babar said he could not comment on the matter, since he was not aware of the step that JUI-F would take after the expiration of the two. Deadline established by Maulana for the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

When asked about the possibility of PPP participation in the sit-in if it extended beyond Sunday (tomorrow), he said he could not comment without discussing the matter at the party.

Similarly, he refused to respond when asked to explain the possible posture of his party in case the head of the JUI-F asked for a "symbolic participation" in the sitting.

However, Babar said the PPP president Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's plan to address public meetings in southern Punjab was still intact. He said that Bhutto-Zardari was scheduled to fly to Rahim Yar Khan for a public meeting, but his plane could not take off due to bad weather.

He said that taking advantage of the cancellation of his flight, the president of the PPP arrived at the place of the Azadi march and addressed his participants along with other opposition leaders, including the president of PML-N, Shahbaz Sharif.

The Azadi march of the opposition parties, led by JUI-F, entered Islamabad on Thursday night. The decision of the head of the JUI-F to keep his plans secret until the last moment not only perplexed the government and the local administration of the capital, but was also criticized by key political allies.

The president of the Awami National Party, Asfandyar Wali Khan, who had arrived in Islamabad from Charsadda at the head of the procession of his party before the arrival of the JUI-F caravan, had complained about the lack of coordination between the parties and even He wondered where the Rehbar Committee had gone.

Posted on Dawn, November 2, 2019