ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will discuss its recommendations on a "charter of democracy" on November 13, to be finalised the following day, which would not only provide details of how to achieve their one point agenda - to oust the government - but also define the parameters which all eleven signatories will abide by, sources within the JUI (F) told Business Recorder.
Sources, when asked, clarified that the parameters would include whether to limit their criticism to the 'establishment' or identify individuals as blameworthy for political engineering.
A senior PPP leader who declined to be named said that 'establishment' was a reality, and the need of the hour was that 'we should refrain from naming the top military leadership without any concrete evidence'. He further stated that members of PPP's steering committee including Sherry Rehman and Raja Pervez Ashraf had been tasked to prepare the party's recommendations for the PDM's steering committee scheduled on Nov 13.
"We'll present our recommendations while the standpoint of other political parties will also be examined thoroughly...we all want a consensus 'charter' as this point of time, any mistake, however inadvertent, will be not be good for the opposition," he added.
When asked about the probability of a possible splintering of the PDM due to PML-N's verbal attacks against the military leadership, he said that 'it is too early to say anything as we want to sort out things through threadbare deliberations'.
PPP is unlikely to back down from its stance that it will not associate itself with any campaign explicitly targeting the security establishment and its top officials, well informed sources told Business Recorder. The PPP leadership has categorically conveyed to PDM president Maulana Fazlur Rehman that the anti-government opposition alliance needed to review its stance about the security establishment and soften it, Business Recorder further learnt.
At the suggestion of JUI-F chief, the PPP had agreed to raise the matter in the PDM's steering committee meeting on November 13, a source in PPP said requesting anonymity. The opposition parties, in the all-party conference (APC), held on September 20, 2020, had agreed that they would not directly single out any institution, but instead would refer to them as 'establishment,' the PPP leader said.
"The PPP is following the policy already decided in APC. If Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz or PML-N had other plans, they should have consulted PPP and other opposition parties and taken them into confidence instead of taking solo flight," he said.
The PPP leadership would strongly urge the PML-N leadership not to target state institutions and not to name any individual or institution related to security establishment, PPP leader said. Talking to Business Recorder, JUI-P leader Awais Ahmed Noorani said the meeting of PDM's steering committee would be followed by a summit level talk the following day - on Nov 14 - when the leadership will accord final approval to the draft "charter of democracy".
With the approval of the final charter, he added, all the eleven parties would be bound to follow the guidelines agreed in the summit level meeting. "We're hopeful that all the parties are there to fight for the rights of the people and whatever consensus is reached, no one would have any reservations," said the cleric.
Talking to Business Recorder, senior PML-N leader Mushahidullah Khan said the JUI-F chief had already explained as to who was being addressed when the word "establishment" was used. To a question, he asserted that PML-N and its leadership gave responsible statements based on "evidence", adding that PDM's narrative was for supremacy of the Constitution and that every institution should work within their constitutional domain.
A spokesperson of the JUI-F said Maulana had convened the party's central executive committee (CEC) meeting today (Tuesday) which would also discuss the party's position to be conveyed to the PDM leaders. Pakistan army has not officially commented on Nawaz Sharif's attacks against its top leadership, however sources said the military circles were not happy with his narrative of dragging its leadership into politics.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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