16th Jan, 2022. 01:33 am

PDM’s shaky alliance

It is becoming increasingly clear with the passage of time that there is much smoke but no real fire in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)’s plans to overthrow or pressurise the government to mend its ways.

The PDM’s recent announcement to undertake yet another long march against the PTI’s “anti-people” way of governance has not ruffled any feathers, it seems. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the de facto leader of the opposition alliance, announced the plans for an “anti-inflation” march on Pakistan Day next year. However, judging by Maulana’s statement in reply to a question regarding the duration of this long march, it is clear that the plan is just an effort to buy more time and an attempt to salvage PDM’s credibility besides being a desperate bid to motivate the people to support the movement.

In the impassioned speech, Maulana stated that meetings with lawyers and the judiciary would also be held soon to discuss the PDM’s policies with all stakeholders including business leaders and members of the Bar Council.

It may be mentioned here that in the November 23rd meeting, the PDM had not been able to come up with a solid plan after which the alliance had announced that they would meet again on December 6th to announce some “very important decisions”. If only the decision regarding the long march had some weightage.

The truth is that the PDM has been in hot waters for quite some time now, and the so-called alliance has faced much difficulty in presenting a united front. Since the Pakistan People’s Party left the PDM earlier this year, the ground underneath the PDM’s feet has remained shaky.

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Last year, when the PDM emerged from its political and financial woes, made worse by the Covid-19 crisis, it represented a clear goal and for a while the numbers were on its side. Two of the major opposition parties, the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N), stood with myriad smaller parties and it seemed that the PTI had finally something to be afraid of.

But cracks appeared in the PDM’s political armour soon after internal conflicts between the parties created tension within the whole movement. And that was the beginning of the end of the PDM, if not in subsistence, then in the form of its waning power.

Soon the PPP said goodbye and the PDM had to postpone its first planned long march, coincidentally also scheduled for March 2021. The PPP had planned to approach the matter in a less volatile manner, and made it clear they believed the long march and joint resignations from all assemblies was a bad move, which would tip the numbers in Tehreek-i-Insaaf’s favour.

The PPP and PDM have not been able to reconcile their differences, and in a recent interview, the PPP Secretary Information Faisal Kareem Kundi mentioned that he did not think PDM was serious about overthrowing the ruling party. He did, however, state that the People’s Party is still interested in supporting the no-confidence motion against the government in Punjab as well as in the Capital.

In November, right after the PDM’s meeting, there were speculations that Maulana Fazlur Rehman had threatened to quit the movement. However, later he calmed down after he was convinced by the members of the PML-N to stay with the alliance. Having said that, the PML-N itself has had its own reservations about the alliance.

But it seems that PDM’s troubles are far from over. According to critics and analysts, the alliance has fallen into the habit of making tall promises but lacks unity and confidence to go through with its plans, something they have in common with the government they plan to overthrow.

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It is evident that the government is not going to take PDM seriously until the alliance shows some real muscle and reorganises itself to pose a potent threat to the ruling party. Though PDM is still adamant about its plans, they need to pull itself together and come up with a solid strategy to move ahead. Unless that happens, the PDM will continue to be treated as a toothless alliance with nuisance value rather than a genuine threat to the government.

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