Pakistan Democratic Movement to launch anti-government campaign

Pakistan’s newly formed opposition bloc, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), is expected to meet today for the first time.

The PDM was formed by a merger of nearly all major opposition groups within Pakistan’s legislature following the collapse of an earlier coalition. The new bloc seeks to oust the current administration of Prime Minister Imran Khan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party on the charges of economic failure, corruption and electoral fraud. Today’s meeting is the first of several scheduled throughout the provinces, and it will be followed in December by protests, rallies and a decisive long march towards Islamabad in January.

It appears unlikely that the PDM will pressure the current Kahn government to resign through protests and political manoeuvring. Past coalitions led by current PDM leadership have collapsed amid trust issues, and problems have already arisen in the new coalition due to allegations of corruption against alliance leaders. Furthermore, the alliance is heavily focusing on the use of mass public gatherings, the specialty of PDM and Islamic Jaimat Ulema-e-Islam party leader Maulana Fazur Rahman, to garner support. The tactic could very well prove a non-starter should the country see a resurgence of COVID-19 in the coming months.

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