Opposition
coming together?
The Pakistan
People’s Party (PPP) held an Iftar dinner for the heads of almost all the
opposition parties. The purpose of getting together is said to be to chalk out
a joint strategy against the government on the issues of inflation, the IMF
deal, the actions of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the allegedly
rigged elections of 2018 that brought the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf to power,
the rupee’s steep fall and the projected further increase of 28-47 percent in
gas tariffs. Amongst those invited are Maryam Nawaz representing the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Awami National Party’s Asfandyar Wali,
Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F’s) Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Pakhtunkhwa
Milli Awami Party’s Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Balochistan National Party-Mengal’s
Sardar Akhtar Mengal (did not attend), Jamaat-Islami’s Sirajul Haq, Qaumi Watan
Party’s Aftab Sherpao, and JUI-Noorani’s Owais Shah Noorani. The guest list
reads like a veritable who’s who of the opposition, if not a significant chunk
of the political firmament. PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari has already
come out with a call for a movement after Eid against the government. Before
that, and soon after his defeat in the 2018 elections, Maulana Fazlur Rehman
had been exhorting the opposition to start an agitation. He is said to have
played a role in persuading the PPP and the PML-N, the two main opposition
parties, to lay aside their differences in the interests of removing the
present incumbents. Although matters are not so clear cut in the PML-N, with
imprisoned Nawaz Sharif reportedly having given the green signal for a movement
and Shahbaz Sharif still in London, Maryam Nawaz’s stepping into her father’s
shoes may well prove the most significant development for the party in recent
times. Although government spokespersons are characterising the talk of a
possible grand opposition alliance as just a cover for distracting attention
from the alleged corruption of Asif Zardari and the Sharifs, the development
cannot be so easily dismissed. Both the PPP and PML-N leaderships are in the
dock in numerous cases being pursued by NAB.
Although the PPP
and PML-N leaderships are tainted by the corruption allegations being pursued
night and day by NAB, it is too facile to simply describe the intended coming
together of the opposition as merely a ploy to wriggle out from under the NAB barrage.
The opposition is keenly aware of the fumbling image of the PTI government,
especially where the economy is concerned. They are also sensitive to the
complaints getting louder by the day from the public and ordinary citizen about
the tsunami of inflation that has threatened even the normal food intake, not
even sparing people during Ramzan. Now the news of a further tariff hike of gas
to follow the earlier over 140 percent increase must be giving the ordinary
citizen nightmares. Three square meals a day are rapidly going out of the reach
of the poor, with further inflation expected once the IMF programme kicks in. All
this potentially provides both tinder and seething lava on the street for the
opposition’s plans to hold protests all over the country after Eid, building up
to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s dream of a long march on and shutdown of the federal
capital. It may be early days, but there is a discernible convergence amongst
the opposition parties against the perceived arrogance of the government,
especially Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has consistently avoided reaching out
to the opposition even when it is constitutionally required, and exhibits an
extraordinary indifference and even contempt for parliament, to which he is
accountable for his government’s policies and actions. Added to this opposition
parties’ convergence is the growing frustration and anger amongst the people at
the inept, fumbling, and in terms of affordability disastrous handling of the
economy by the PTI government so far, with far worse feared to be in the
pipeline.
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