Senate poll keeps PDM committee distracted.

ISLAMABAD -- The opposition's Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that has set March 26 as the date for starting its anti-government long march is yet to finalise the modalities of the protest, including its duration, as its member parties remain preoccupied with the preparations for the upcoming Senate elections.

The PDM steering committee that had been assigned the task to finalise a strategy for the long march met thrice in Islamabad last week, but the participants consumed most of the time in discussing the plan for the March 3 polls, according to sources.

The sources said the PDM member parties had already agreed to hold a sit-in after reaching the capital, but their differences over the modalities and duration of the sit-in were yet to be resolved, as one of the two major opposition parties was not convinced to convert the long march into an 'indefinite' sit-in.

Talking to Dawn here on Saturday, the Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) secretary general Farhatullah Khan Babar, who is also a member of the PDM steering committee, confirmed that all their previous meetings remained focused on the Senate elections since the PDM's parties had announced that they would jointly contest the polls.

'The discussion on the long march issue will now be held after the Senate election,' declared Mr Babar while taking credit for the PPP in convincing other opposition parties to take part in the Senate election instead of boycotting it.

'Our [PPP's] narrative proved true. Had we left the field open for them [the government], then Imran Khan would have taken the advantage by telling the people that look the thieves have run away,' the PPP stalwart said, claiming that the PDM's announcement to jointly contest the Senate election had already caused much 'political damage' to Mr Khan.

'I think, there is a deeper realisation (among the opposition parties) that it was a good decision,' he added.

Mr Babar even hinted that they might change the date of the long march. He said they had announced that the long march would start on March 26, but the final date and its modalities were yet to be decided.

In response to a question, the PPP leader disclosed that in the last meeting of the PDM heads earlier this month, they had decided that the opposition parties would stage a sit-in 'which will continue for more than a day' but it had not been decided as to how long it would continue.

He said not only the PDM, but all the component parties were to finalise their...