Another APC!

The divided opposition has so far allowed a smooth sailing to PM Imran Khan and his men

Opposition parties are trying to unite again – for an umpteenth time though – against the ruling PTI. A meeting of the Rahbar Committee – a conglomerate of opposition parties, 11 right now, in the country – held in Islamabad yesterday has convened an all parties’ conference on September 20 to discuss how to go about a movement against the sitting government, and take the needed decisions. Rahbar Committee convener Akram Durrani, of the JUI-F, says all parties agree that the 2018 general election that led to PTI chairman Imran Khan becoming the Prime Minister of Pakistan was a shame for the whole country, and that his government should not be allowed to continue for a single day.

The Rahbar Committee gathering in Islamabad came in the wake of a meeting between PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N president and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in Karachi during the latter’s daylong visit to the city that was battered by recent rains and ensuing urban flooding. Shehbaz’s visit was aimed at expressing solidarity with the rain-affected people. The two leaders had, on behalf of their respective parties, decided that all opposition parties should go into a huddle and decide on a roadmap to oust the Imran Khan-led government “through constitutional and legal means”.

All opposition parties – including the PML-N and the PPP – look pretty serious about going to any length in order to bring the PTI-led government down. But all of them looked as serious when JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had led the ‘Azadi March’ to Islamabad in October-November last year, and on several other occasions since the inception of the PTI government in August 2018. However, each time the opposition parties failed to forge a formidable alliance to even give a tough time to the government on issues relating to governance and legislation, let alone hitting the streets in protest together.

Divided in their opposition of the government, the opposition parties have so far allowed a smooth sailing to PM Imran and his men. Let’s see if yet another all parties’ conference, on September 20, manages to bring an undivided opposition in its wake.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2020.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.