The PPP began its long march to Islamabad with party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari calling it a “war on Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government”. The party has been selling the march as the “final push” against the government, which aligns with the broader goals of the PDM. The march is expected to stop in 35 cities before reaching the capital on March 23. Despite some recent infighting, other PDM member parties have also said they will support the long march as it moves north to the capital.
The march is powered mainly by nationwide discontent over inflation, although other PTI policies have also been criticised by participants that spoke with various media outlets. Bilawal himself called out inflation and unemployment while painting his party as one that unites people, while accusing the PTI of working to “divide, polarise and sabotage” people. Even though the PPP has put out a 38-point charter of demands, any analyst knows that it is a non-starter, as too many of the points are outright unacceptable for the PTI, some for obvious reasons, others less obvious.
Meanwhile, the leaders from the PTI and its closest allies have been going out of their way to try and convince people that the march is destined to fail, with Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid noting that the opposition parties remain deadlocked on bringing no-confidence motions, which he suggested was the opposition’s overarching objective. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the “leaderless and aimless” opposition alliance posed no serious threat to the “democratically-elected government”, indirectly speaking to the opposition’s constant questioning of the government’s legitimacy. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi claimed the PPP was paying people to attend its rally, although the jibe was considered suspect by some, as the PTI’s own anti-PPP rally to Karachi has drawn relatively less support in terms of crowd numbers.
Both sides have also been claiming to have the support of about a dozen members of the other side in case of any eventual no-confidence vote in Islamabad, another reminder that there is never a dull moment in Pakistani politics.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2022.
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