# Pakistan Democratic Movement

The Pakistan Democratic Movement (Urdu: پاکستان ڈیموکریٹک موومنٹ; PDM) was a coalition of political parties in Pakistan. It was founded in September 2020 as a opposition movement against Imran Khan, accusing his administration of poor governance, political victimization of opponents, and mismanaging the economy and foreign policy. Khan rebuked these allegations, during and after his tenure as Prime Minister
The coalition was also joined by several dissident members of Khan's own party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
On 10 April 2022, the coalition succeeded in ousting Khan through a no-confidence motion, after which the PDM formed its own government, choosing the opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif as the country's next Prime Minister.
The president of PDM was Fazal-ur-Rehman and its spokesperson was Hafiz Hamdullah, both from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUIF). Shahid Khaqan Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) was Secretary-General, Mahmood Khan Achakzai of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) was Vice President, and Aftab Sherpao of the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) was Senior Vice President of the alliance. PDM's former Senior Vice President was Raja Pervaiz Ashraf of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), while the former spokesperson was Mian Iftikhar Hussain of the Awami National Party (ANP).

## Background

The PDM was a political movement that was based on allegations of vote rigging in the 2018 Pakistani general election, which was won by Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in a landslide. The PDM accused Khan of mismanaging the economy, which had resulted in increased inflation, and that the resultant price hikes had affected the lives of common Pakistanis. PDM leaders also claimed that Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Pakistan Army Chief, and Faiz Hameed, head of the intelligence services (ISI), had been responsible for "selecting" Imran Khan as Prime Minister.
However, Khan's government maintained that the movement was motivated by a series of corruption cases against the leaders of the political parties that had previously governed Pakistan, namely the Pakistan Muslim League (PMLN) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). Moreover, according to Khan, the opposition never appealed to the legal bodies to contest the elections, as his party PTI had in aftermath of the 2013 general elections. He repeatedly claimed that the opposition was demanding amnesty under the National Reconcialiance Ordinance (NRO), despite the opposition's statements that they did not desire NROs.

### Formation

On 20 September 2020, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the center-left Pakistan Peoples Party, hosted an "all parties conference" at the Islamabad Marriott Hotel to form a grand political alliance and plan strategy for replacing the PTI government. Fazal-ur-Rehman, a harsh critic of the military establishment, read out the 26-point resolution adopted by the attendees.

### Protests

On 16 October 2020, PDM held its first political gathering in Gujranwala. Protests organised by the PDM in October 2020 drew over 50,000 people. The government has remained critical and dismissive of the rallies. The PDM planned to hold a "long march" in June 2021, despite objections of large gatherings by health experts, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.

### Resignations

In December 2020, due to disagreements with Fazl-ur-Rehman's leadership, Muhammad Khan Sherani and other senior members of the JUI broke away and formed their own political party called the Jamiat-Ulema-i-Islam Pakistan, claiming that Fazl had personalized the party and used it for his own needs, dismissing the needs of the party itself.
In April 2021, the Pakistan Democratic Movement issued show-cause notices to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Awami National Party (ANP). Later on, the ANP withdrew from the PDM, saying that the movement was "hijacked" by some parties. After a show-cause notice was issued to the PPP, it resigned from the Pakistan Democratic Movement and gave up all offices in the movement along with the ANP.

### Coming to power

The major success of PDM came after reportedly 20 plus members of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf appeared on the surface in Sindh house on 17 March 2022. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf claimed that these MNAs are bribed and have violated article. However, PDM refused these claimed and termed decision of dissent members as their own choice. Nevertheless, dissent members allowed PDM to negotiate with government-allied parties Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan and Balochistan Awami Party proving to them that the government has gone weak and PDM already has a reasonable number to win the no-confidence motion. Ahead of the vote motion Balochistan Awami Party and Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan joined the opposition alliance on 29 and 30 March respectively. As a result of opposition alliance won the vote of no confidence with 174 votes without using dissent members and saving article 63(A) against them. The tenure of Imran Khan as prime minister ended on 9 April 2022, while Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister of Pakistan by the national assembly of Pakistan.

## Parties

| Name | Name | National Leader | Main ideology |
| BAP | Balochistan Awami Party بلوچستان عوامی پارٹی | Khalid Hussain Magsi | Social democracy |
| MQM-P | Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan متحدہ قومی موومنٹ پاکستان | Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui | Muhajir nationalism |
| PPP | Pakistan People's Party پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی | Bilawal Bhutto Zardari | Third Way |
| NDM | National Democratic Movement نیشنل ڈیموکریٹک موومنٹ | Mohsin Dawar | Pashtun nationalism |
| PML(Q) | Pakistan Muslim League (Q) پاکستان مسلم لیگ (ق) | Shujaat Hussain | Conservatism |
| BNP(M) | Balochistan National Party (Mengal) بلوچستان نيشنل پارٹی مینگل | Akhtar Mengal | Baloch nationalism |
| JAH | Jamiat Ahle Hadith جمیعت اہلِ حدیث | Sajid Mir | Ahl-i Hadith |
| JUI(F) | Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam جمیعت علمائے اسلام (فضل) | Fazal-ur-Rehman | Islamism |
| JUP | Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan آجميعت علماء پاکستان‎ | Shah Owais Noorani | Islamism |
| NP(B) | National Party (Bizenjo) قومی پارٹی بزنجو | Abdul Malik Baloch | Social democracy |
| PML(N) | Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) پاکستان مسلم لیگ (نواز) | Nawaz Sharif | Conservatism |
| PMAP | Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party پشتونخوا ملی عوامی پارٹی‎ | Mahmood Khan Achakzai | Pashtun nationalism |
| QWP | Qaumi Watan Party قومی وطن پارٹی | Aftab Ahmad Sherpao | Social democracy |
| JWP | Jamhoori Wattan Party جمہوری وطن پارٹی | Shahzain Bugti | Republicanism |

## Senior leadership

| Name | Office | Party |
| Fazal-ur-Rehman | President | Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam |
| Shahid Khaqan Abbasi | Secretary-General | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| Mahmood Khan Achakzai | Vice President | Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party |
| Aftab Sherpao | Senior Vice President | Qaumi Watan Party |
| Hafiz Hamdullah | Spokesperson | Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam |
| Sajid Mir | Member | Jamiat Ahle Hadith |
| Akhtar Mengal | Member | Balochistan National Party (Mengal) |
| Nawaz Sharif | Member | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| Shehbaz Sharif | Member | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| Maryam Nawaz | Member | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| Marriyum Aurangzeb | Member | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| Rana Sanaullah | Member | Pakistan Muslim League (N) |
| Asif Ali Zardari | Former Member | Pakistan Peoples Party |
| Bilawal Bhutto Zardari | Former Member | Pakistan Peoples Party |
| Raja Pervaiz Ashraf | Former Senior Vice President | Pakistan Peoples Party |
| Mian Iftikhar Hussain | Former Spokesperson | Awami National Party |

## No-confidence motion against Imran Khan

A vote of no-confidence against Imran Khan was held on 9 April 2022 where 174 members voted against him and removed him as prime minister. Consequently Shehbaz Sharif was elected as prime minister of Pakistan.