Political manoeuvres

With 30th October now just 19 days away the PTI is in preparation for its stated aim of closing down Islamabad

With 30^th October now just 19 days away the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) is in preparation for its stated aim of closing down Islamabad. The party is protesting that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has failed to accede to its demands and resign or present himself for accountability regarding the Panama Papers affair. The PTI now appears to be reaching out to other Opposition parties to join the protest which they appear to have been reluctant to do in the past, and if they fail to do so this time around then the PTI will fly solo on the 30^th.

For the PTI to have any chance of unseating the incumbents then it needs to have a broader spectrum of support than currently, and there is background chatter to the effect that it is seeking, as it has had in the past, a relationship with the Pakistan Awami Tehreek led by Dr Tahirul Qadri. On other fronts there have been some hard words between the PTI and the Pakistan People’s Party which continues to be confusingly led by two people — Asif Ali Zardari and his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. The splits between the two are ever more evident and with Zardari pere seemingly permanently ensconced in Foreign Parts it is left to Zardari fils to carry the PPP banner. The PTI suspects that the PPP may be in cahoots with the ruling party, and the PTI is said to have sought to capitalise on the evident splits within the PTI by selecting a ‘minus-Zardari pere’ formula but it would appear that the senior and offshore end of the uneasy partnership which is not ‘interventionist’ has prevailed — at least for now.

The government will seek to limit the impact of any protest by the PTI on 30^th October. The Lahore rally demonstrated clearly that the PTI, far from having lost traction, was still able to attract very large crowds and it may be reasonably assumed that it will do the same in Islamabad. Were the PTI to be able to garner the support of any of the other mainstream parties it would present a formidable challenge. We await outcomes with interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2016.

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