The All Parties Conference today is the sixth one since the PTI–led government came to power but given that the previous huddles had been unable to achieve any concrete results, many are wondering as to how would the outcome of the latest opposition gathering be different this time around.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, leaders of the opposition parties said they would try to reach a consensus on hammering out a decisive strategy to send the PTI government packing unlike the half-hearted efforts that were made before.
However, that is easier said than done. The PML-N looks forward to an in-house change – meaning moving a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. In that case, the cabinet will be dissolved but the assemblies would remain intact. On the contrary, the JUI-F, which failed to bag any National Assembly seat in the 2018 general elections, understandably seeks fresh elections. Until now, the PPP has been of the opinion that the PTI-led government should be given more time so that the ruling party’s failure to keep its pre-election promises further dents its popularity.
So with these three different anti-government approaches, it would be interesting to see how the opposition parties would be able to agree on a single course of action.
According to insiders, the opposition parties have agreed in their initial discussions to move a no-confidence move against the prime minister and the National Assembly speaker. However, a final decision will be reached at the APC.
The first APC of the opposition was held right after losing the general elections in 2018 – on July 28 – and then they met on August 2, 2018 – wherein they unanimously rejected the results of July 25 polls demanding fresh, free, fair and transparent elections in the country.
Back then, they initially could not reach a consensus on whether or not they should take oath as members of parliament but later decided to take it, while aiming to give the government a tough time in and outside parliament.
In 2019, the JUI-F hosted an APC on June 26. However, former president Asif Ali Zardari, his son Bilawal and PML-N President Shehbaz did not attend the moot.
Together, the opposition tried to present a formidable opposition to the ruling PTI, whose coalition government holds a thin parliamentary majority, but nothing concrete emerged afterwards.
On November 27, 2019, the opposition met again and reiterated its demand for fresh general elections “without any interference” but later everyone simply moved on.
Now, the opposition has shown unity one more time after it was unable to materialise its plan to block the “controversial” legislation, despite having a majority in the joint session of parliament.
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