Pak oppn alliance to launch anti-govt campaign on Oct 16

Islamabad, Oct 6 The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance comprising 11 of the country's opposition parties, will formally launch its anti-government campaign with a public meeting in Gujranwala on October 16, instead of Quetta.

The PDM's steering committee at its meeting on Monday released a schedule of six public meetings in the four provinces as part of the first phase of its movement in line with decisions taken at the September 20 multiparty conference (MPC) in Islamabad, reports Dawn news.

The decisions taken by the steering committee were announced by its convener Ahsan Iqbal of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with leaders of other PDM component parties at a media briefing.

According to Iqbal, the PDM would hold its second public meeting in Karachi on October 18, third in Quetta on October 25, fourth in Peshawar on November 22, fifth in Multan on November 30 and the last one in Lahore on December 13.

While the alliance has appointed Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman as its first phase President, Iqbal said that members of the steering committee had unanimously elected Raja Pervez Ashraf of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as senior vice-president, whereas PML-N's Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had been nominated as its secretary general.

The PDM was created last month in an effort to oust the incumbent Imran Khan-led government over its "failures in all sectors".

( With inputs from IANS )