'Azadi march' betrays lack of coordination among parties.

Byline: Amir Wasim

ISLAMABAD -- Opposition parties' Azad march spearheaded by the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl finally entered Islamabad on Thursday, but not before exposing lack of coordination among them.

The decision of JUI-F to keep its actual plan secret till the last moment not only kept the government and local administration of the capital perplexed, but also came under criticism from key political allies.

The main opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) added to the confusion by unilaterally announcing 'postponement' of the public meeting at the planned venue in Islamabad till Friday due to the train tragedy.

PML-N's announcement about 'postponement' of rally till Friday adds to confusion; PPP says 'extremely' difficult for Bilawal to address gathering

The announcement made by PML-N secretary general Ahsan Iqbal at a time when marchers were about to begin their journey from Gujar Khan was criticised by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who immediately issued a statement, saying that they would reach the Azadi March venue on Thursday night at all cost to address the public meeting.

Interestingly, later the JUI-F officially announced that the public meeting would now be held on Friday after Friday prayers.

A spokesman for the JUI-F claimed that the decision to hold the public meeting had been made after 'consultation' with the opposition's Rehbar Committee.

He said the march was going ahead as planned and cautioned the people against falling victim to rumour mills.

On the other hand, Awami National Party (ANP) president Asfandyar Wali Khan, who arrived in Islamabad from Charsadda leading a party's rally on Thursday, complained about the lack of coordination and even questioned where had the Rehbar Committee gone.

Pointing towards senior party leader and a member of the Rehbar Committee, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the ANP chief said that his nominee in the committee was sitting beside him and he had not been contacted by the committee's convener Akram Durrani or other members.

Mr Khan said he had reached Islamabad as per plan as they had been told that the public meeting would be held on Oct 31.

Similarly, a spokesman for Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said there was total confusion as they did not know about the actual plan of JUI-F leaders.

Mr Khokhar said the PPP chairman had cancelled all his activities for the day as he was scheduled to address the public meeting...

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