PDM Postpones D-Chowk Rally To Accommodate OIC Dignitaries

PDM Postpones D-Chowk Rally To Accommodate OIC Dignitaries
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has not cancelled but postponed its D-Chowk rally ahead of the no confidence vote by two days in light of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting in the federal capital, PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced on Tuesday night.

The PDM chief reported that the opposition sit-in would now take place on March 25, still auguring a possible face-off between partisan camps on March 28 - the scheduled date of the no-confidence vote.

Maulana Fazul Rehman said that he had directed the caravans of supporters coming from across the country to wait to enter Islamabad until the foreign dignitaries in town for the OIC summit on March 22-23 had arrived.

"We have great respect for Muslim countries and do not want to create any problems for the foreign dignitaries," he said.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) has also planned a 'mammoth' rally in Islamabad on March 27; Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to address the gathering.

The imminent no-confidence vote has unleashed cut-throat, tit-for-tat sparring between the opposition and the incumbent government, with both sides accusing the other of engaging in mud-slinging and dangerous rhetoric.

Sensing the political temperature rise, Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat earlier called on both sides to cancel their respective rallies.

“Given the current situation in Pakistan, [we] cannot afford this dangerous confrontation,” the PML-Q President said, chastising the ‘politics of rallies and numbers’ deployed by both side of the aisle.