PPP opposing ‘powerful circles’ again?

Takes different approach on general polls’ timing as well as amendments to army and official secrets acts

ISLAMABAD:

Despite remaining a close ally of the PML-N led government, the PPP is taking a different approach on the timing of the holding of the general elections as well as the status of Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill, 2023.

A debate is under way as to why the distance between the PPP and security establishment is widening soon after the dissolution of the assemblies.

It has been learnt that officers on key posts in Sindh were being transferred during the caretaker government’s tenure and the PPP was unhappy over the move.

“If there is no reshuffling of the bureaucracy in other provinces, why are officers in Sindh being transferred?” a senior PPP leader, who is also a member of the party's Central Executive Committee (CEC), asked.

Read Seat adjustment between PPP, PML-N ‘a likely possibility’

Interestingly, the name of Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar as the caretaker Sindh chief minister was proposed by the PPP.

It has been learnt that around 60 individuals, who were either part of the PPP’s Sindh government or its beneficiary, have been put on the no-fly list during the tenure of the caretaker set-up.

However, there is no official confirmation of this development.

Even a minister, who possessed a key portfolio in the provincial government, has received a notice from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The PPP invited Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan as well as Latif Khosa to its CEC meeting, which was held on Friday. Both the lawyers strongly support the PTI’s narrative.

Khosa is also pleading PTI chief and deposed premier Imran Khan’s cases at different forums.

However, Khosa did not attend the meeting. There is no confirmation about whether he was busy or deliberately did not attend the PPP CEC huddle.

Political analysts are giving different reasons for the change in the PPP’s policy. Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leaders had excused themselves from joining the PPP. The electables of southern Punjab are preferring the newly formed Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP) over the PPP as well.

Read more PPP mulls leaving coalition

A senior political analyst said the “powerful circles” were unhappy with PPP Chairman and former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s statement, wherein he had warned that his party would not support the passage of the recent budget in the National Assembly if the Sindh government's flood funds were not released.

In his speech in the lower house of parliament, the PPP chairman had also expressed disappointment over his father, Asif Ali Zardari, and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s policy towards the establishment.

A senior lawyer believes that the PPP will lose the most if the Supreme Court struck down the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance (NAO), 1999. It will be interesting to see how the PPP will face the prevailing situation – whether it will patch up its differences with the “powerful circles” or fight for its survival.

Senior lawyers say that if the PPP and the PTI unite on a one-point agenda to hold general elections within 90 days, the situation might change. The PPP has a great deal of influence in the bars. The superior judiciary will also face major pressure on holding of the general elections in the month of September. It will also be interesting to see how the establishment will tackle this situation if it happens.