- And a number of ifs and buts
The two major opposition parties which were at odds with each other till recently are closing ranks.
The veiled threat of a possible mid-term election has played some role in bringing them closer. The PML-N leadership has decided to reorganise the party, set up and activate its offices in provincial HQs outside Punjab and initiate a mass contact campaign from December 30 onwards to be addressed among others by Nawaz Sharif. What has aroused hopes in the opposition are PTI’s blunders and its subpar economic performance.
The PTI rules with the help of allied parties. The party leadership takes the allies for granted on account of their small size, causing a sense of hurt which is aggravated by the consciousness that the PTI could not remain in power if some of the allies were to withdraw their support. On Monday two of them raised a dissenting voice by supporting the opposition’s demand that the Speaker order the production of PML-N legislator Kh Saad Rafique in the NA. Earlier, PTI MNA Riaz Fatyana had vouched for Rafique’s integrity, to the embarrassment of the PTI leadership which knew it could not take the risk of pulling up one of its own legislators.
The disturbing hike in inflation is affecting everyone. The way the campaign against encroachments was conducted in Karachi and elsewhere has led to thousands losing their means of livelihood and the roof on their head. The simmering public resentment against the government has raised the hopes of the PPP and PML-N leaders.
The possibility of the top leadership of the two major opposition parties landing in jail has hastened the process of collaboration between them. By joining forces the two hope to be better positioned to turn the tables against the ruling party, the PML-N concentrating on building a campaign in Punjab and Zardari making full use of his wheeling and dealing talent to wean away some of PTI’s crucial allies. But will the possible incarceration of top leaders not demoralise their workers? What is more, the strategy is based on a presumption that those who brought the PTI in power are disillusioned with it. But are they really?
