Grand opposition
alliance
Politics often
makes strange bedfellows. Whichever way you look at it, the 2018 elections have
proved one of the most controversial in our history. Amidst almost the entire panoply
of parties except the PTI, there are resounding cries of rigging, pre-poll and post-poll
onwards. The results show PTI in power in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by a handsome
margin, an ‘upset’ given the trajectory of the province in recent years of
voting out incumbent governments after one term. PTI appears also poised to
form the governments at the Centre and Punjab with the help of some smaller
parties and the ubiquitous independents, and in alliance with, if not part of,
the coalition government likely to be led by the recently formed Balochistan
Awami Party (BAP) in Balochistan. So while Imran Khan and the PTI appear to be
master of, if not all, at least a large part of what they survey, these facts
on the ground are not without challenge. A grand opposition alliance appears to
be taking shape to enter parliament and give the PTI a tough time inside the
Assemblies and outside. Four parties met in Islamabad on July 30 and agreed to forge
such an alliance. They include the PML-N, PPP, MMA and ANP. After talks with
Hasil Bizenjo, the National Party (NP) also has agreed to join the new
grouping. To get to this point required a fair bit of public and private
dialogue. The most difficult to persuade seems to have been Maulana Fazlur Rehman
of JUI-F of MMA, who appears quite miffed and angry at having lost in his home constituency
in D I Khan. His suggestion to boycott parliament and take to the streets in protest
against the ‘stolen’ election and the efforts to bring the PTI to power in the
Centre and Punjab had few takers amongst the other parties. On the contrary,
they seem to have almost persuaded Maulana Fazlur Rehman to eschew any ideas of
agitation and instead use parliament to wage their struggle. The alliance being
born intends to approach some parties in Balochistan to widen their base. They
also intend to hold another All Parties Conference after the one Maulana Fazlur
Rehman called the other day failed to persuade the PPP and some smaller parties
to attend, although Shahbaz Sharif represented the PML-N there. This second All
Parties Conference is expected to issue a ‘White Paper’ detailing the alleged
rigging before and after the voting had ended. The opposition parties have
condemned such alleged rigging, including curbs on the media and freedom of
expression on the social media. Pressures exerted on PML-N candidates to defect
(some did) and other sleight of hand before and after the polling also skewed
the election results in favour of one party, the PTI, it is alleged.
In the muddied
waters post-polling, this grand opposition alliance-in-the-making has asserted
that this election has exposed the establishment like never before. The demand
for investigating these alleged ‘irregularities’ and worse through a judicial
commission followed the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP’s) relatively
unsympathetic response to the charges of mismanagement. The ECP went so far as
to reject the demands for the Chief Election Commissioner and the whole ECP to
step down. The opposition alternatively envisages a parliamentary commission to
probe the election. It is too early to say whether any of these demands will be
fulfilled, since the business of garnering the necessary votes at the Centre
and in Punjab has everyone’s attention. Even if the opposition’s demands for an
independent investigation are not acceded to, they have wisely kept their
powder dry to first exhaust the redressal procedure allowed by appeal to the
ECP, election tribunals and then the courts. Meanwhile, they intend to make
life difficult for the PTI-led governments at the Centre and in the provinces. This
caution is both pragmatic and wise, not the least because of the precarious
economic and security situation confronting the country. The opposition has shown
considerable maturity and adherence to lawful and democratic means to strive for
their objectives. Whatever the outcome, parliament and the democratic system
stand to gain. It is therefore all the more welcome.
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