- Opposition yet to formulate a coordinated stand
Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif is expected to return on Sunday, confounding PTI spokespersons and discrediting those who said that he had given the slip to the government and would never come back. The PML-N chief on the other hand had promised to get back to Islamabad to lead the Opposition during the budget session. With projections of an unprecedented rise in taxes, the Opposition is keen to give the government a good run for its money during the forthcoming session of Parliament.
The opposition leaders however have yet to hammer out a clear line of action. While the PML-N is keen to see Prime Minister Imran Khan’s back, there is still no consensus among the party leaders over the modalities. Rana Sanaullah wants an in-house change with someone else from the PTI replacing Mr Khan. PML-N Senior Vice-President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi however wants midterm elections. The PPP also seems to be divided, with party co-Chair Asif Ali Zardari telling party workers that Mr Khan must be removed to save the nation while Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira maintains that the PPP doesn’t want to remove the government, but only to give it a wakeup call. Mr Kaira is less enthusiastic about taking to the streets and would like the party to confine itself to protests within Parliament. Will the multi-party conference called by an impatient JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman later this month help the opposition devise a common strategy, remains to be seen. The opposition has also to clarify its stand vis-à-vis the protest call issued by the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association.
There are some minimum steps the opposition is likely to take together in the coming months. These include exposing the government’s policies and expressing solidarity with the common man and holding protests inside Parliament. There are however differences over taking recourse to the streets. As the government continues to steamroller the opposition in the National Assembly and the perception of being driven to the wall becomes acute, they might in future decide to join hands for an all-out assault on the government. But this does not appear to be on the agenda at this stage.
