Pakistan Democratic Movement Explained

Pakistan Democratic Movement
Colorcode:Black
Dissolved:September 2023[1]
Secretary General:Shahid Khaqan Abbasi [2]
Leader1 Title:Vice President
Leader2 Title:Senior Vice President
Spokesperson:Hafiz Hamdullah [3]
Position:Big tent
Ideology:Anti-PTI
Colors: Green
Country:Pakistan

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (Urdu: {{nq|پاکستان ڈیموکریٹک موومنٹ; PDM) was a coalition of political parties in Pakistan.[4] It was founded in September 2020 as a opposition movement against Imran Khan, accusing his administration of poor governance, political victimization of opponents, and mismanaging the economy and foreign policy. Khan rebuked these allegations, during and after his tenure as Prime Minister [5]

The coalition was also joined by several dissident members of Khan's own party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).[6]

On 10 April 2022, the coalition succeeded in ousting Khan through a no-confidence motion,[7] [8] [9] after which the PDM formed its own government, choosing the opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif as the country's next Prime Minister.

The president of PDM was Fazal-ur-Rehman and its spokesperson was Hafiz Hamdullah, both from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF).[3] Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) was Secretary-General, Mahmood Khan Achakzai of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) was Vice President, and Aftab Sherpao of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) was Senior Vice President of the alliance.[10] [11] [2] PDM's former Senior Vice President was Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), while the former spokesperson was Mian Iftikhar Hussain of the Awami National Party (ANP).[12] [13]

Background

The PDM was a political movement that was based on allegations of vote rigging in the 2018 Pakistani general election, which was won by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a landslide. The PDM accused Khan of mismanaging the economy, which had resulted in increased inflation, and that the resultant price hikes had affected the lives of common Pakistanis.[14] PDM leaders also claimed that Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Pakistan Army Chief, and Faiz Hameed, head of the intelligence services (ISI), had been responsible for "selecting" Imran Khan as Prime Minister.[9]

However, Khan's government maintained that the movement was motivated by a series of corruption cases against the leaders of the political parties that had previously governed Pakistan, namely the Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).[15] Moreover, according to Khan, the opposition never appealed to the legal bodies to contest the elections, as his party PTI had in aftermath of the 2013 general elections. He repeatedly claimed that the opposition was demanding amnesty under the National Reconcialiance Ordinance (NRO), despite the opposition's statements that they did not desire NROs.[16] [17] [18]

Formation

On 20 September 2020, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the center-left Pakistan Peoples Party, hosted an "all parties conference" at the Islamabad Marriott Hotel to form a grand political alliance and plan strategy for replacing the PTI government. Fazal-ur-Rehman, a harsh critic of the military establishment, read out the 26-point resolution adopted by the attendees.[19] [20]

Protests

On 16 October 2020, PDM held its first political gathering in Gujranwala.[21] Protests organised by the PDM in October 2020 drew over 50,000 people.[22] The government has remained critical and dismissive of the rallies.[23] The PDM planned to hold a "long march" in June 2021,[24] despite objections of large gatherings by health experts, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.

Resignations

In December 2020, due to disagreements with Fazl-ur-Rehman's leadership, Muhammad Khan Sherani and other senior members of the JUI broke away and formed their own political party called the Jamiat-Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, claiming that Fazl had personalized the party and used it for his own needs, dismissing the needs of the party itself.[25]

In April 2021, the Pakistan Democratic Movement issued show-cause notices to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP).[26] Later on, the ANP withdrew from the PDM, saying that the movement was "hijacked" by some parties.[27] After a show-cause notice was issued to the PPP, it resigned from the Pakistan Democratic Movement and gave up all offices in the movement along with the ANP.[28] [29]

Coming to power

The major success of PDM came after reportedly 20 plus members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf appeared on the surface in Sindh house on 17 March 2022. [30] Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf claimed that these MNAs are bribed and have violated article. [31] However, PDM refused these claimed and termed decision of dissent members as their own choice. Nevertheless, dissent members allowed PDM to negotiate with government-allied parties Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan and Balochistan Awami Party proving to them that the government has gone weak and PDM already has a reasonable number to win the no-confidence motion. Ahead of the vote motion Balochistan Awami Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan joined the opposition alliance on 29 and 30 March respectively. [32] [33] As a result of opposition alliance won the vote of no confidence with 174 votes without using dissent members and saving article 63(A) against them. [34] The tenure of Imran Khan as prime minister ended on 9 April 2022, while Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister of Pakistan by the national assembly of Pakistan. [35]

Parties

NameNationalLeaderMain ideology
BAP
Khalid Hussain MagsiSocial democracy
MQM
Khalid Maqbool SiddiquiMuhajir nationalism
PPP
Bilawal ZardariThird Way
NDM
Mohsin DawarPashtun nationalism
PML(Q)Shujaat HussainConservatism
BNP(M)
Akhtar MengalBaloch nationalism
JAH
Sajid MirAhl-i Hadith
JUI(F)Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam
Fazal-ur-RehmanIslamism
JUP
Shah Owais NooraniIslamism
NP(B)
Abdul Malik BalochSocial democracy
PML(N)
Nawaz SharifConservatism
PMAP
Mahmood Khan AchakzaiPashtun nationalism
QWP
Aftab Ahmad SherpaoSocial democracy
JWP
Shahzain BugtiRepublicanism

Senior leadership

!Name!Office!Party
Fazal-ur-RehmanPresidentJamiat Ulama-e-Islam
Shahid Khaqan AbbasiSecretary-GeneralPakistan Muslim League (N)
Mahmood Khan AchakzaiVice PresidentPakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party
Aftab SherpaoSenior Vice President Qaumi Watan Party
Hafiz HamdullahSpokespersonJamiat Ulama-e-Islam
Sajid MirMemberJamiat Ahle Hadith
Akhtar MengalBalochistan National Party (Mengal)
Nawaz SharifPakistan Muslim League (N)
Shehbaz SharifPakistan Muslim League (N)
Maryam NawazPakistan Muslim League (N)
Marriyum AurangzebPakistan Muslim League (N)
Rana SanaullahPakistan Muslim League (N)
Asif Ali ZardariFormer MemberPakistan Peoples Party
Bilawal Bhutto ZardariPakistan Peoples Party
Raja Pervaiz AshrafFormer Senior Vice PresidentPakistan Peoples Party
Mian Iftikhar HussainFormer SpokespersonAwami National Party

No-confidence motion against Imran Khan

See main article: No-confidence motion against Imran Khan. A vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan was held on 9 April 2022 where 174 members voted against him and removed him as prime minister. [34] Consequently Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister of Pakistan. [35]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: As elections near, major players steer away from PDM. 18 September 2023. Dawn (newspaper).
  2. Web site: Dawn. 2020-11-09. PDM to work on fresh 'charter of democracy'. 2020-11-10. DAWN.COM. en. PDM secretary general and PML-N stalwart Shahid Khaqan Abbasi later told Dawn that the new charter would not be like the 2006 Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed between his party and the PPP..
  3. Web site: Daily Jang. 2021-04-28. حافظ حمد اللّٰہ پی ڈی ایم کے ترجمان مقرر. ur.
  4. Web site: Hashim. Asad. Pakistani politician released as opposition to continue protests. 2020-10-19. www.aljazeera.com. en.
  5. Web site: Deconstructed . Ryan Grim . 2023-06-05 . Imran Khan: U.S. Was Manipulated by Pakistan Military Into Backing Overthrow . 2024-02-22 . The Intercept . en-US.
  6. Web site: In open show of dissent, several PTI MNAs found staying in Sindh House. 17 March 2022. DAWN.COM.
  7. Web site: Timeline of events on how Pakistan PM Imran Khan lost his post in no-confidence vote. 10 April 2022. Firstpost.
  8. Web site: End Of The Hybrid Regime: Here's Why Imran Khan's Ouster Is Good News For Pakistan. The Friday Times. 9 April 2022.
  9. Web site: What led to Pakistan PM Imran Khan's downfall. 9 April 2022. BBC News.
  10. Web site: Democracy must remain supreme, says Achakzai. 29 October 2021. Dawn. Mr Achakzai, who is also vice president of the PDM, said: “The country cannot be run without providing justice. The holy Quran commands to do justice and fairness.”.
  11. Web site: PDM rejects electoral reforms, AJK results. 11 August 2021. The Express Tribune. The PDM chief said Qaumi Watan Party Chairman Aftab Sherpao had been appointed the senior vice president of the alliance..
  12. Web site: 2020-10-18. Govt must accept its failure, announce fresh elections: PDM. 2020-11-01. The Express Tribune. en. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) spokesperson Mian Iftikhar Hussain said this in a statement on Saturday..
  13. Web site: PDM issues new schedule of public gatherings across country. 5 October 2020. 24 News HD. Ahsan announced that Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was elected as general secretary of PDM. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf was elected as senior vice president and Iftikhar Hussain was elected as secretary information..
  14. Web site: 2021-07-11. PDM to march against inflation. www.thenews.com.pk. en.
  15. Web site: Who is leading the Pakistan Democratic Movement: Maryam Nawaz Sharif or Maulana Fazlur Rehman? . 2022-04-06 . gulfnews.com . 11 October 2020 . en.
  16. Web site: Wasim. Amir. 2018-10-31. Shahbaz asks PM Khan to elaborate who asked for an NRO. 2021-08-10. DAWN.COM. en.
  17. Web site: Mahmood. Abid. 2019-05-05. No one asking for NRO, says Abbasi. 2021-08-10. DAWN.COM. en.
  18. Web site: Dawn.com. Nadir Guramani . 2020-09-16. Opposition blocks another FATF-related bill in Senate. 2021-01-17. DAWN.COM. en.
  19. Web site: Opposition announces Pakistan Democratic Movement to oust 'anti-people' govt . 2022-04-06 . www.geo.tv . en.
  20. Web site: Reporter . The Newspaper's Staff . 2020-09-21 . Opposition parties form alliance to oust govt . 2022-04-06 . DAWN.COM . en.
  21. Web site: Tahir. Zulqernain. 2020-10-16. Stage set for PDM power show in Gujranwala. 2021-04-06. DAWN.COM. en.
  22. News: Ellis-Petersen. Shah Meer Baloch Hannah. 2020-10-17. Pakistan's united opposition protests against Imran Khan's rule. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-10-19. 0261-3077.
  23. Web site: Dawn.com . 2020-12-13 . PM Imran terms PDM Lahore public meeting 'pathetic', rules out NRO again . 2022-04-06 . DAWN.COM . en.
  24. News: Opposition parties in Pakistan launch alliance to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan . The Economic Times . 2022-04-06.
  25. Web site: Ali . Kalbe . 2020-12-30 . Maulana Sheerani forms own faction of JUI . 2020-12-30 . DAWN.COM.
  26. News: Hussain. Javed. 2021-04-05. PDM issues show cause notices to PPP, ANP as opposition split widens. en-US. DAWN.COM. 2021-08-10.
  27. Web site: Dawn.com. 2021-04-06. ANP quits PDM, says alliance 'hijacked' by some parties. 2021-04-06. DAWN.COM. en.
  28. Web site: 2021-04-13. PPP decides to quit all PDM offices. 2021-08-10. The Express Tribune. en.
  29. Web site: Dawn.com. 2021-04-12. PPP CEC asks its members to resign from PDM. 2021-08-10. DAWN.COM. en.
  30. Web site: Dawn.com. 2021-03-17. In open show of dissent, several PTI MNAs found staying in Sindh House. DAWN.COM. en.
  31. Web site: geo.tv. 2021-03-21. Explainer: What is Article 63(A)?. geo.tv. en.
  32. Web site: www.thenews.com.pk. 2021-03-29. In a blow to govt, four BAP MNAs join opposition. www.thenews.com.pk. en.
  33. Web site: www.thenews.com.pk. 2021-03-30. It's official: MQM-P is no more with PTI. www.thenews.com.pk. en.
  34. News: Pakistan PM Imran Khan gone after losing no-confidence vote . www.aljazeera.com . 9 April 2022.
  35. News: Pakistan: Shahbaz Sharif sworn in as new prime minister. www.dw.com.