Business Recorder Editorial July 13, 2019

Opposition moves

The opposition Rehbar Committee constituted after the Multi-Party Conference (MPC) on June 26, 2019 declared its intent to move a no-confidence motion in the Upper House to remove Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani. The opposition decided to have Akram Durrani as the convener of the Rehbar Committee for two months, after which the position would be rotated amongst all the opposition parties. The motion for impeachment has been moved on July 9, 2019. As for the candidate to replace Sadiq Sanjrani, the original decision was to have a candidate from the PML-N. However, it appears that better sense prevailed and the combined opposition decided to field Mir Hasil Bizenjo. Sadiq Sanjrani was elected Senate Chairman in the aftermath of the PPP’s co-Chairperson Asif Zardari’s manoeuvring to help overthrow the Balochistan coalition government led by the PML-N before the general elections 2018. The fall of the Balochistan government and Sadiq Sanjrani’s elevation to Senate Chairman therefore appear to have been seamless parts of the same gambit. Asif Zardari’s move in this regard may have been motivated by the effort to earn brownie points from the establishment, which, later events have proved, failed to protect him or other leaders of the PPP from the unwanted attentions of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). This is yet another example (the past is full of these) of the two main opposition parties playing against each other to please the powers that be, who in any case have by now sidelined both parties through the controversial 2018 election and the bringing into power of the PTI. So much for Asif Zardari’s political wisdom.

The real test for the opposition will come when the no-confidence motion against Sadiq Sanjrani is voted on in the Senate. On paper the combined opposition has a comfortable majority, but in the secret balloting on such a motion, sceptics wonder just how solid the opposition ranks really will remain. For the opposition, the move against the Senate Chairman is only the opening shot of its intended campaign against the government. But on this opening gambit rests on the one hand the credibility of the unity of the opposition and on the other its ability to carry the campaign forward. The shape of politics in the country will therefore hinge critically on the outcome of the move against Sadiq Sanjrani.