Countering each other: PML-N courts parliamentary parties ahead of campaign

If negotiations collapse, the govt plans to seal Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: As the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) prepare to scale up their anti-government campaign, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has mounted a hunt for allies through contacts with other political outfits – and guarantee the continued isolation of Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri in parliament.

Already a number of meetings have been held with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-F (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Awami National Party (ANP) and other parliamentary parties to cope with the prevailing political challenge.

A top PPP leader told The Express Tribune that in the struggle between those wishing to topple the status quo and the civil establishment’s supremacy, his party has decided to back the government. “We have differences and serious reservations over a few cabinet members but the PPP wants to set a new trend in politics,” he added.

According to the PPP lawmaker, Imran Khan has caused great damage to the civil structure of the country. “The legacy of these three months will haunt us in the coming years,” he said. “Imran has put his weight behind the security establishment. He has ridiculed all institutions, including the judiciary, media and parliament, but has only praised the security establishment,” he added. “We will continue to recall the promises Imran made to the people of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.”



PPP’s Senator Raza Rabbani, the main architect of the 18th amendment, also spoke on these lines while talking to media persons a day earlier. He said that his party would not accept any technocratic set-up in the country and would defend the democratic order.

ANP chief Asfandyar Wali also announced that any illegal moves would be resisted this time. As per an ANP lawmaker, Wali is in contact with Premier Sharif. “He is trying to convince the PM to oust PTI from the K-P government,” he added.

Premier Nawaz Sharif has also held meetings with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and JI’s Ameer Sirajul Haq. The JUI-F chief advised the PM to give him a green signal to oust the PTI from power.

In a separate meeting, PM requested the JI chief to continue his mediatory role. A source who was present in the meeting said, while quoting PM Sharif, that the PM had told the JI chief that the government would support them in the arrangements of his party’s convention in Lahore. “’I will ask the media to give coverage to the convention. But make sure that your gathering is larger than that of Naya Pakistan’ is what the PM said.”

A PTI spokesperson confirmed that all parliamentary parties are collectively busy in a hate campaign against PTI.

On the other hand, PTI’s core committee has reportedly decided to invite PAT chief Dr Tahirul Qadri in its November 30 gathering in Islamabad. Qadri is in contact with the PTI leadership, a central leader of the party, told The Express Tribune. He claimed that the PAT sit-in was called off in consultation with PTI, and the new moves being orchestrated against the government are again being made in close coordination with PTI. A PTI spokesperson also confirmed this and said that PTI wants to convince political parties that are friendly with PTI to join the grand November 30 jalsa in Islamabad. When approached, PAT spokesperson Raheeq Ahmad Abbasi said that PTI has made no formal contact with his party regarding the November 30 public rally. “We have our own separate plan of public rallies across the country,” he added.

PTI central leader Shafqat Mahmood told The Express Tribune that so far the government has made no formal contact with the PTI regarding the November 30 rally. “They are doing their work and we will do ours,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 21^st, 2014.