Islamabad: A delegation of the federal government, led by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and including Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, on Sunday “failed” to convince Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief and President of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s (JUI), to choose a different venue for his sit-in against the Supreme Court which is set to kick-off today (Monday).
Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that their protest in front of the Supreme Court of Pakistan would continue till Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial tenders his resignation.
In one such case — the Al Qadir Trust case — the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) apprehended the former premier from the premises of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) with the help of Rangers last week.
However, a three-member bench of the apex court declared the arrest “illegal” and directed Imran Khan to approach the IHC again. Subsequently, the IHC granted Imran Khan bail till May 17.
On the same day, the PDM announced staging a “peaceful” sit-in outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad on May 15 (Monday) against CJP Bandial for “facilitating” and giving “VIP protocol” to Imran Khan.
It appears that further attempts to persuade the PDM chief were unsuccessful. In a media talk alongside Mr Dar and JUI-F leader Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri after a meeting with Maulana Fazl, Mr Sanaullah gave an ambiguous statement regarding the outcome of the sitting with the JUI-F chief.
On Monday morning, he said, a final decision will be made regarding the location, but he also indicated that all PDM parties had agreed on the protest site, which would be outside the Supreme Court.
The interior minister claimed that after discussing all security-related issues with the PDM president, it was decided that wherever the sit-in was held, there would be perfect security measures in place.
PDM protest in front of Supreme Court to continue till CJP Bandial’s resignation, says PDM chief
