PTI gears up to push leaks agenda once again

Mehmoodur Rasheed says internal pressure growing against alliance with PPP

LAHORE: Just a week ahead of the Punjab Assembly session, the opposition leader is at work once again. The PTI front man is looking to push over his party’s agenda over the Panama leaks issue, hoping to gain support of all opposition parties, including the PPP.

Tensions between the PTI and PPP have escalated since the latter dissociated itself from Imran Khan’s Raiwind rally, which the PTI claimed was a success despite its political isolation. Leaders from both sides have been trading barbs recently, criticising each other on failing to deal with the Panamagate scandal.



In what appeared to be references towards the PTI, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari lashed out on social media at the party’s policies, criticising it for staging a protest smack in the middle of growing tensions with India.



Opposition Leader in Punjab Assembly Mehmoodur Rasheed defended his party’s reaction against the PPP at the centre, saying it was actually them, who have been criticising the PTI over the past few weeks. “With constant allegations against the PTI of going on a solo flight, the PPP has been very critical of our policy despite attempts to take everyone along,” Rasheed said, adding internal pressure against any alliance with the PPP was also growing.

The PTI has also been critical of the PPP with its chief accusing it of working in cahoots with the PML-N to ‘hide’ each other’s corruption. On Thursday, the PTI chief in a statement advised the PPP to opt for the minus-Zardari formula if they were to succeed in pro-people politics.

The opposition leader said his leader’s remarks came in the wake of a relentless attack by the PPP that mocked the PTI and its chief. “Messages by their party’s head can only be tolerated to an extent,” he maintained.

Despite this, Rasheed hopes the opposition in Punjab Assembly will work in unison on the Panama leaks issue. The party has already announced stepping up efforts inside the house on the issue, aiming to hit the PML-N government during the upcoming legislative session scheduled for next week.



But there is little the PTI can accomplish on its own with just 53 opposition lawmakers from as many as five parties in an assembly of 368 legislators. The ruling PML-N enjoys a massive majority with 311 members.

This is why Rasheed says the opposition has no choice but to stick together. “Regardless of politics at the centre, the opposition needs to work together in Punjab, where all opposition lawmakers share similar concerns. I am hopeful the PPP will stand with us in Punjab,” he says.

Opposition in the Punjab Assembly comprising the PTI, PPP, PML-Q and the Jamaat-e-Islami has previously worked in close coordination, putting forth a united stance on several issues. The parties in the province have also held joint APCs with the latest being over Panama Papers in July.

PPP’s Parliamentary Leader in Punjab Assembly Qazi Ahmad Saeed told The Express Tribune the party had not received any instructions from its central leadership to distance itself from the PTI-led opposition in Punjab. “It is the PPP that is playing the opposition’s role in the centre with PTI boycotting the house,” he added.

Recently, the PPP submitted resolutions over the Kashmir issue as well as the ongoing Panama controversy, both of which the party plans to take up in the next session.

While the opposition leader has not been in touch with PPP lawmakers for a united stance in Punjab Assembly, he is maintaining close contact with PML-Q and JI. The opposition has, in the aftermath of Panama controversy, marred sessions through walkouts, boycotts, pointing of quorums and agitation something which Rasheed said the opposition might again opt for.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 8^th, 2016.