Senior PPP leader pleads PDM to reconsider its plan to hold Islamabad rally

• “Opposition should seriously rethink plans to hold jalsa in Islamabad on 27th." PPP's Farhatullah Babar tweets.
• He says [Imran Khan] deserves political death, not martyrdom.
• PPP has formally conveyed its reservations to PDM and PML-N warning them of consequences.

Senior PPP leader and secretary-general Farhatullah Babar urged the joint Opposition to reconsider its plan to hold a jalsa on March 28 in Islamabad in response to PTI’s power show on Sunday.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Babar wrote: “[The] Opposition should seriously rethink plans to hold jalsa in Islamabad on 27th.”

“Imran Khan is on the run anyway. Deny him the wish to create mayhem, run away from no trust, derail democracy and then claim political martyrdom. He deserves political death, not martyrdom,” the senior PPP leader wrote.

Meanwhile, sources privy to the matter told Daily Dawn that reservations had been conveyed formally to PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PML-N Vice President Shahbaz Sharif regarding their planned public meeting in Islamabad.

Read more: PM Imran Khan invites nation to join him on March 27 in special message

A senior PPP office-bearer told the publication on the condition of anonymity that the party had decided not to give a call to its workers to participate in the long march and the opposition’s public meeting.

“PPP believed that after the Supreme Court decided to stop the PTI from holding the public meeting at D-Chowk, there was no need for them to hold public gatherings,” he said, adding that such a move could provide PTI with an opportunity to further delay the vote on the no-confidence motion.

He further added that some “undemocratic forces” could also take advantage of the situation and the country could face an “unforeseen incident”.

Read more: PML-N's ‘Mehngai Mukao March’ set to start from March 26

The senior leader told the newspaper that since the joint Opposition has the required numbers to make the no-confidence motion a success, there was no need to hold a public gathering.

“Now, when the PTI has shifted its venue to Parade Ground in line with the court’s directives and it has also assured the court that no member will be stopped from casting their vote, we should also call off our march and public meeting,” he said.