- PPP and PTI come one step closer
The PML-N government is providing cause to the opposition parties, currently involved in mutual internecine warfare, to turn their guns against the government. With Nawaz Sharif out of the country one hand in the PML-N does not know what the other is doing. Safron Minister Abdul Qadir Bloch assured Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah that on Monday the much awaited Fata Reforms Bill will be on the agenda of the National Assembly sitting. As the proceedings began, the legislators were told that the item had been removed from the agenda of the day.
In October 2015 the PML-N government set up a committee for Fata reforms headed by Sartaj Aziz. The contents of the committee’s report were made public in August 2016 avowedly on the initiative of the prime minister. The PML-N’s secretive style of work however stopped it from taking its own allies on board. Consequently soon after the committee’s recommendations were revealed, the report met strong opposition from two of the government’s allies, the JUI-F and PkMAP, which remain the strongest opponents of the reforms. . The best way out was to put the reforms bill before the Parliament for debate. The failure to do so led to a rumpus in the House. The Leader of the House Khursheed Shah and Deputy Leader of the PTI Shah Mahmud Qureshi both condemned the move and the entire opposition boycotted the sitting.
The people of Fata have been protesting against the delay in the implementation of Fata reforms. Jamaat-e-Islami has taken out a rally from Peshawar to Islamabad to press for the demand. On Sunday Imran Khan too warned of protests if Fata and KP were not merged. Meanwhile there is no respite to government-PPP confrontation over the Constituencies Delimitation Bill. Proposals put by the PPP to break the ice were reportedly rejected by Prime Minister Abbasi. The government needs to avoid pushing the opposition to the wall. Unless it does so, it might be forced into holding elections at a time when the PML-N’s popularity is on the decline.
