‘Azadi march’ betrays lack of coordination among parties – Newspaper

ISLAMABAD: The Azad march of the opposition parties led by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl finally entered Islamabad on Thursday, but not before exposing the lack of coordination between them.

JUI-F's decision to keep his royal plan 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 main opposition of the Pakistan-Nawaz Muslim League (PML-N) added to the confusion by unilaterally announcing the "postponement" of the public meeting at the scheduled location in Islamabad until Friday due to the train tragedy.

The announcement of PML-N about the "postponement" of the concentration until Friday increases the confusion; PPP says that "extremely" difficult for Bilawal to address the meeting

The announcement made by PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal, at a time when protesters were about to begin their journey from Gujar Khan, was criticized by the head of JUI-F, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who immediately issued a statement, saying that they would arrive at the Azadi March. Place Thursday night at all costs to address the public meeting.

Interestingly, later, the JUI-F officially announced that the public meeting would now be held Friday after Friday's prayers.

A spokesman for the JUI-F said that the decision to hold the public meeting had been taken after "consulting" with the opposition Rehbar Committee.

He said the march was progressing as planned and warned people not to be a victim of rumors.

On the other hand, the president of the Awami National Party (ANP), Asfandyar Wali Khan, who arrived in Islamabad from Charsadda at the head of a party rally on Thursday, complained about the lack of coordination and even questioned where he had gone Rehbar Committee

Pointing to the party leader and Rehbar Committee member, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the ANP chief said his candidate on the committee was sitting next to him and that he had not been contacted by the committee coordinator, Akram Durrani or other members .

Khan said he had arrived in Islamabad according to the plan, as they had been told that the public meeting would be held on October 31.

Similarly, a spokesman for the president of the Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, said there was total confusion as they did not know about the real plan of the leaders of the JUI-F.

Khokhar said the PPP president had canceled all of his day's activities, as he was scheduled to address the public meeting after the arrival of the Azadi march participants.

Speaking to Dawn, he said that the PPP president had planned to go to a public meeting in Rahim Yar Khan on Friday and that it had now become extremely difficult for him to go to the Azadi march since the JUI-F had announced that it would be held. . after Friday prayers.

He said the announcement was "ambiguous" since the exact time had not been announced. However, he said, the president of the PPP would do everything possible to address the participants of the Azadi march before his departure to southern Punjab, where he would stay until November 9.

Previously, everyone noticed the low participation of PML-N in the JUI-F Azadi march in Lahore on Wednesday night. Even the PPP workers outnumbered the PML-N in the JUI-F show and their president of Punjab (PPP), Qamar Zaman Kaira, shared the stage with Maulana Fazlur Rehman.

Many JUI-F supporters in Minar-i-Pakistan complained that the PML-N workers did not join the march despite the high claims of their leaders.

The president of PML-N, Shahbaz Sharif, was present in Lahore, but his meeting with Maulana Fazl could not be organized.

Maulana Fazl was also unable to meet with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Services Hospital after doctors told him that Sharif could not see the visitors.

Previously, the PML-N had claimed that the party would participate "fully" in the march towards Nawaz Sharif. The consensus emerged after the inclement weather amid reports that Shahbaz was not in favor of joining the march.

At its last meeting a few days ago in Model Town regarding the preparations for the march, the PML-N said it had mobilized its workers who would join the JUI-F march and give Maulana Fazl an enthusiastic welcome here.

The PML-N, however, has already announced that Shahbaz Sharif will address the public meeting in Islamabad.

Political experts and some opposition leaders believe that the decision of the JUI-F leadership to make a stopover in Gujar Khan, which is only 50 kilometers from the capital, was not a good measure. They believe the decision seriously affected the momentum of the rally that began in Karachi on October 27.

However, sources in the JUI-F claimed that the opposition parties had already been informed about the actual plan since the party had reached an agreement with the community of lawyers that they would enter Islamabad only at night after the time of Voting for the elections of the Supreme. The Court Bar Association was over.

Published on Dawn, November 1, 2019