JUI-F chief named first President of Pakistan's Opposition alliance

ISLAMABAD: MaulanaFazlurRehman, chief of the JamiatUlema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-Fazl) party, has been named the first President of the oppositions Pakistan Dem­ocratic Movement (PDM), after his unanimous nomination by the heads of all the constituent parties.

He was named PDM President after the opposition alliance's first formal meeting through video link on Saturday, reports Dawn news.

According to PDM's steering committee convener AhsanIqbal, Pakistan Mus­lim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif proposed Maulana'snameand it was endorsed by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and others.

Sources told Dawn news that Sharif had initially proposed that MaulanaFazl should be appointed as the president on a permanent basis, but the idea was opp­osed by Bhutto-Zardari and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Amir HaiderHoti, who suggested that the office should be given on a rotational basis to leaders of the constituent parties.

The sources said there was an agreement among the leaders that the Mau­lana should lead the PDM in the first phase as he had already led last year's 'Azadi March' against the incumbent Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government.

"Since the Maulana has already done a rehearsal and his party is more disciplined and has the ability to effectively mobilise the masses, therefore, in the first and decisive phase, he is the best choice," Dawn news quoted a participant of Saturday's meeting as saying.

Maulana's nomination to lead the movement came only a week before the formal launch of the anti-government campaign by the opposition parties with PDM's first public meeting scheduled for October 11 in Quetta. (IANS)

Also Watch: Assam Govt Talks Tough, Job Through Unfair Means to be Scrapped