Pakistan's Mahagathbandhan picks up; will rally against Imran & 'undemocratic' deep state

The newly-launched alliance of the major Opposition parties in Pakistan on Tuesday announced that it will hold its first public rally against the Imran Khan-led government on October 11, according to media reports. The country's main Opposition parties last week launched the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance to hold a countrywide protest movement to oust the ruling government.

“On October 11, PDM will hold (its) first public rally and then the movement will spread all over Pakistan and rid Pakistan of this unconstitutional system,” former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was quoted as saying by the Geo TV.

According to a report in the Dawn, Abbasi said the anti-government movement will be launched across the country after the "historic" rally in Quetta.

"This movement will keep growing and will be successful in ridding Pakistan of this undemocratic process," said Abbasi, who was accompanied by other opposition leaders.

Maryam Nawaz of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari did not attend the meeting, the Dawn report said. Abbasi said that the PDM's steering committee was also approved in the meeting of the opposition parties. A 26-point joint resolution was adopted by the All Parties Conference (APC) on September 20, which was hosted by the PPP and attended by PML-N, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) and several other parties.

At a joint press conference after the end of the multi-party meeting, JUI-F chief Mualana Fazl ur Rehman read out the resolution and said that the Opposition parties have agreed to launch an alliance named Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to organise countrywide protests against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government from October. The resolution alleged that the Khan government has been granted "fake stability by the same establishment" that interfered with the elections to bring the incumbent rulers to power.

According to the resolution, the protests would start in phases. In the first phase, the Opposition parties will hold joint rallies in all four provinces in October. The second phase will begin in December during which the Opposition will hold huge rallies across the country. Finally, a "decisive" long march towards Islamabad would start in January next year to oust the government.

The Opposition will also enlist lawyers, traders, farmers, students, media as well as members of the civil society in its movement. In order to oust the government, opposition parties will use "every legal and constitutional option in and out of parliament, which include moving no-confidence motions and collective resignations from assemblies at an appropriate time," the resolution stated. 

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