- The passage of the Budget shows the state of play
The speech made by the Prime Minister in the National Assembly on the occasion of its passage of the Finance Bill showed the state of play, as he answered the speech of the Leader of the Opposition Mian Shehbaz Sharif’s criticism of the economic situation and said that opposition efforts to topple his government had failed, and also indicate that his relationship with the powers that be remained strong. Mian Shehbaz also later said that he was resigning as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, a position which is not only traditional for the Leader of the Opposition, but which let him put the government on the rack, as it was extremely reluctant to let him hold the post.
Another development which could hamper the Opposition’s efforts is the going of a group of about 15 PML-N MNAs and MPAs from Punjab to Bani Gala to meet Mr Khan, with a view to forming a forward blocs in the coming days, both in the National and the Punjab Assemblies. It should not be forgotten that any move by the opposition to topple the government would require the PML-N to play a leading role. If the party is unable to mobilise in large swathes of Punjab because its MNAs and MPAs have deserted it, that would be a serious handicap. Then there is the conundrum of Mian Shehbaz. He is already a substitute, and himself insists that Mian Nawaz Sharif is the real leader of the party. If he was to become inactive, as his resignation seems to indicate, then the opposition’s chances of launching a movement at all, let alone it succeeding, would be correspondingly reduced.
However, though there are cracks appearing in the opposition’s anti-government wall, the PTI is still not absolved of its responsibility, being the government, of finding some way of carrying the opposition along with it. The triumphalism of the Prime Minister, in promising to launch a crackdown on money launderers, will not help. While no one would object to this, for an opposition that feels itself under pressure, this is not the message that will make the opposition give the sort of cooperation that it needs to run the government properly, by carrying out the necessary legislation that has been missing so far.
