Pakistan opposition alliance asks lawmakers to submit resignations by December 31

ISLAMABAD: An alliance of opposition factions in Pakistan asked its lawmakers on Tuesday to submit their resignations from the national and provincial assemblies to the heads of their parties by December 31, as its top leaders pledged to fuel their campaign to bring down the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) emerged as a major political platform of various opposition forces after a multiparty conference was arranged on September 20 that decided to launch anti-government agitation and galvanize their workers and supporters all over the country.
The opposition alliance has already conducted public rallies in various Pakistani cities, and it is planning to hold another one in the eastern city of Lahore on December 13.
It held an important meeting on Tuesday to determine the alliance's future strategy before announcing its resignation move.
"All opposition lawmakers in national and provincial assemblies should send their resignations to their party leaders by December 31," said the president of the alliance, Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
He was also accompanied by Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Vice President Maryam Nawaz.
Rehman added that a PDM steering committee would hold a meeting on Wednesday to determine the nuts and bolts of the strategy and determine when to hold wheel-jam and shutter-down strikes in the country.
The committee will also determine the appropriate time to stage a long march against the government and bring the opposition activists and supporters to Islamabad.
The PDM president said the decisions taken by the committee would be announced in the upcoming public rally in Lahore, adding it would be a "historic" political event that would prove instrumental in bringing down the government.
Prime Minister Khan and his party have already dismissed the opposition strategy to resign, saying they would hold by-elections in all the vacant constituencies.