Anti-govt campaign on the cards?
PTI, PPP and the PAT have separately filed disqualification references with the election commission against the PM
PHOTO: REUTERS
With Eid holidays just behind us, the prospects of an anti-government campaign kick-starting soon now loom large. The PTI, which had been at the vanguard of resistance to the ruling PML-N for a long time, had been making loud noises about mounting an anti-PM drive soon after Ramazan. The PML-N’s foot-dragging on starting an inquiry into allegations unleashed by the Panama Leaks and on the terms of reference for it has been a bone of contention with no consensus being reached on the issue.
That was enough to frustrate the opposition and instigate it into protest mode. Already, the PTI, the PPP and the PAT have separately filed disqualification references with the election commission against the prime minister, hoping to exhaust legal options first before taking the next big step. Going by the tone employed by the two sides just before Eid, the omens are not good. Both the PPP and the PTI had been increasingly coordinating their efforts directed against the government. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had asked party cadres to prepare for a “massive anti-government campaign” without delay. If the PPP and the PTI decide to join forces, the government might find itself in a spot of bother although whether such a campaign could prove fatal for its survival in power is questionable. The government is doing its bit to respond to the oral threats hurled by the opposition in kind. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar advised the PPP leadership to declare its assets and tell the nation how it has managed to buy overseas properties before it considers joining the movement against corruption. This latest round of allegations and counter-allegations depict a lack of seriousness on the part of senior politicians to break the impasse over an important national issue. With the PM all set to return to Pakistan, it’s time wiser counsel prevailed.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2016.
That was enough to frustrate the opposition and instigate it into protest mode. Already, the PTI, the PPP and the PAT have separately filed disqualification references with the election commission against the prime minister, hoping to exhaust legal options first before taking the next big step. Going by the tone employed by the two sides just before Eid, the omens are not good. Both the PPP and the PTI had been increasingly coordinating their efforts directed against the government. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had asked party cadres to prepare for a “massive anti-government campaign” without delay. If the PPP and the PTI decide to join forces, the government might find itself in a spot of bother although whether such a campaign could prove fatal for its survival in power is questionable. The government is doing its bit to respond to the oral threats hurled by the opposition in kind. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar advised the PPP leadership to declare its assets and tell the nation how it has managed to buy overseas properties before it considers joining the movement against corruption. This latest round of allegations and counter-allegations depict a lack of seriousness on the part of senior politicians to break the impasse over an important national issue. With the PM all set to return to Pakistan, it’s time wiser counsel prevailed.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2016.