Maulana Fazlur Rehman appointed as head of Pak's new anti-govt alliance PDM

Iqbal said the Opposition had decided to launch the movement for the supremacy of the Constitution, democracy, the independent judiciary and for the security of the rights of Pakistanis

Pakistan's firebrand cleric-cum-politician Maulana Fazlur Rehman has been unanimously appointed as the first president of the Opposition's newly-formed anti-government alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a media report said on Sunday.

The decision was taken on Saturday during a virtual meeting of the Opposition parties attended by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif,Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, BNP chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal among other senior politicians.

According to PDM's steering committee convener Ahsan Iqbal, deposed prime minister Sharif proposed Rehman's name as the alliance president and it was endorsed by PPP chairman Bilawal and others, the Dawn newspaper reported.

Sharif had initially proposed that Rehman should be appointed as the president on a permanent basis, but the idea was opposed by Bilawal and Awami National Party (ANP) leader Amir Haider Hoti, who suggested that the office should be given on a rotational basis to leaders of the constituent parties, the report quoted the sources as saying.