PDM failed to bring 'political revolution', opposition divided on resignations and long march: Qureshi

(Karachi) Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the leaders of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) are divided over submitting resignations in the National and provincial assemblies.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said that the PDM leadership is not serious on resigning from the assemblies, rather it is a tactics to blackmail the government. "If the opposition is serious, their resignations should reach the speaker by December 31," he remarked.

He added that the PDM leaders are also not united and failed to take stance over the long march issue. Qureshi maintained that there was nothing new in PDM's Lahore rally as none of the opposition leaders put forward a concrete future line of action.

He mentioned that the Pakistan Stock Exchange witnessed an upward trend after opposition alliance's December 13 public gathering. "If the opposition's public gathering had been a success, the stock exchange would not have shown positive indicators," he said.

"Two groups are visible in PML-N. One is taking forward the thinking of Shehbaz Sharif while the other the narrative of Maryam Nawaz," he stated.

Hurling criticism, the foreign minister asked the opposition why is it pressing the prime minister to step down when the economy is improving and heading in the right direction.

The FM said that the government is not ready to hold dialogue with the opposition which are based on conditions. "The nation has come to know that the PDM has adopted an anti-Pakistan agenda."

He said that Bilawal Bhutto does not has the power to take decisions for the party. "All decisions are taken by Asif Zardari but Bilawal tried to give an impression in his speech that he is the decision-maker."

Shah Mehmood said that the PDM miserably failed in its effort to bring about a "political revolution" as boasted by its leaders. "They could not gather an impressive crowd in Lahore rally."

He said that allegations of rigging after every election in the country have become a habit, the incumbent government wants to bring reforms with the help of the opposition but they are up to another thing.

The demand for fresh elections by the PDM is unconstitutional, he pointed out.