Opposition leaders are beginning to show some signs of life, even as the noose continues to tighten around them. Maulana Fazalur Rehman met Nawaz Sharif, leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday, and was scheduled to meet former president Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday. Despite these developments, sources in various opposition parties have confirmed to this scribe there are no signs of an early protest against the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) government, mainly because of mistrust and fears of the impact it may have on the political landscape.
Maulana Fazalur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F), is jittery after he was taken out of the political system for the first time in more than three decades. Maulana, whose party is represented in the provincial and the federal legislatures, faced political humiliation in the 2018 elections and feels personally anguished. He is angry with the security establishment and the PTI that has affected his party mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Maulana Fazal, who has a wide network of seminaries across Pakistan, has recently tried to hold protest rallies across the country. After the July elections last year, he tried to persuade both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the PML-N not to take oath in the new parliament and put together an alliance to start public agitation. At that time, the PPP was not too eager to join Maulana’s bandwagon. Nawaz Sharif, who was sympathetic to Maulana, also did not want his party to remain out of the system.
In the last few months, when noose tightened firmly against the PPP leadership, party supremo Asif Zardari has been forthcoming about putting together some resistance. On the 40th anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the PPP leader threatened to stage a sit-in in Islamabad till the PTI government was ousted.
“Whatever we see in PPP’s resistance is more for optics than anything else. It is more about the signalling of the resistance rather resistance itself,” said a veteran analyst while commenting on the predicament of the party.
Zardari has had many meetings with the Maulana lately but without any result. “Yes Zardari does call on the Maulana. They usually have pleasant conversations. There is even a photo-op. But that is it,” said a JUI insider requesting anonymity. “It is clear that Zardari is using us for political signalling for his own sake,” he added.
The PML-N is even more ambivalent on the issue of public agitation. Shehbaz Sharif’s wing of the party has always been of the view that the break up with the security establishment is an aberration. They maintain that the connection cannot be cut permanently. They have always believed that the rupture in the relationship can be repaired. This group is buoyed by the unimpressive performance of the PTI government and deteriorating economic conditions gives them hope for repairing their relationship with the security establishment. For them, it is not a matter of if, but when, the rapprochement does take place.
“Why should we get the blame of murder when a person is about to commit suicide? Let them stew in their own juices. Don’t we have enough worries of our own to take care of?” commented a PML-N stalwart about the PTI government.
There is still great mistrust amongst the political opposition. They are not on the same wavelength. “Today, the PPP is where we were when we marched on GT road. At that time, the PPP was against us,” said a PML-N leader.
Even those PML-N leaders who are not fully supportive of Shehbaz Sharif’s camp are not too eager to join Maulana’s agitation. “Why should we give an opportunity to Imran Khan to present us before the world as extremist mullahs and that he is the only moderate figure wanting good relations with India and the rest of the world?” said a former PML-N minister known for his radical views against the security establishment.
“You want us to create public pressure so that the security establishment removes the PTI government unceremoniously, gives them the victim card and then we negotiate with the same establishment that got us here in the first place? Do you think we are that crazy?” said the same former minister.
With economy going south and the FATF pressure mounting, inflation touching the highest mark in last five years, gas and the electricity tariffs going over the roof, many analysts predict major trouble for the PTI government this summer, especially after the budget is announced and Pakistan formally goes under a new IMF program.
As conditions worsen, there are fresh moves to muzzle the media and critical voices. Last Sunday night, senior journalist Marian Baabar got a visitor on her door. She categorised this as an intimidation manoeuver. The situation has worsened to the point that even her newspaper did not report the incident and she had to put up the news on Twitter. Last week, Channel 24 was blocked after comments by a senior journalist who was informing his viewers about Imran Khan and his government.
This week Shehzeb Jilani, a veteran journalist with global credentials, is being hounded with an FIR lodged against him by a lawyer of dubious distinctions, known for filing frivolous lawsuits. The same lawyer was debarred to enter the Supreme Court of Pakistan because of his antics. Last month, a secret letter was leaked mentioning the FIA “investigating” five top journalists of Pakistan because they had put up pictures of the slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on their Twitter profiles during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. Suppression of freedom of expression, locking up opposition leaders and worsening economic conditions for the common men is a lethal cocktail. Let us hope the powers that be realise this before it is too late.
Maulana Fazalur Rehman, the leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F), is jittery after he was taken out of the political system for the first time in more than three decades. Maulana, whose party is represented in the provincial and the federal legislatures, faced political humiliation in the 2018 elections and feels personally anguished. He is angry with the security establishment and the PTI that has affected his party mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Maulana Fazal, who has a wide network of seminaries across Pakistan, has recently tried to hold protest rallies across the country. After the July elections last year, he tried to persuade both the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the PML-N not to take oath in the new parliament and put together an alliance to start public agitation. At that time, the PPP was not too eager to join Maulana’s bandwagon. Nawaz Sharif, who was sympathetic to Maulana, also did not want his party to remain out of the system.
In the last few months, when noose tightened firmly against the PPP leadership, party supremo Asif Zardari has been forthcoming about putting together some resistance. On the 40th anniversary of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the PPP leader threatened to stage a sit-in in Islamabad till the PTI government was ousted.
“Whatever we see in PPP’s resistance is more for optics than anything else. It is more about the signalling of the resistance rather resistance itself,” said a veteran analyst while commenting on the predicament of the party.
Zardari has had many meetings with the Maulana lately but without any result. “Yes Zardari does call on the Maulana. They usually have pleasant conversations. There is even a photo-op. But that is it,” said a JUI insider requesting anonymity. “It is clear that Zardari is using us for political signalling for his own sake,” he added.
“Today, the PPP is where we were when we marched on GT road. At that time, the PPP was against us,”
said a PML-N leader
The PML-N is even more ambivalent on the issue of public agitation. Shehbaz Sharif’s wing of the party has always been of the view that the break up with the security establishment is an aberration. They maintain that the connection cannot be cut permanently. They have always believed that the rupture in the relationship can be repaired. This group is buoyed by the unimpressive performance of the PTI government and deteriorating economic conditions gives them hope for repairing their relationship with the security establishment. For them, it is not a matter of if, but when, the rapprochement does take place.
“Why should we get the blame of murder when a person is about to commit suicide? Let them stew in their own juices. Don’t we have enough worries of our own to take care of?” commented a PML-N stalwart about the PTI government.
There is still great mistrust amongst the political opposition. They are not on the same wavelength. “Today, the PPP is where we were when we marched on GT road. At that time, the PPP was against us,” said a PML-N leader.
Even those PML-N leaders who are not fully supportive of Shehbaz Sharif’s camp are not too eager to join Maulana’s agitation. “Why should we give an opportunity to Imran Khan to present us before the world as extremist mullahs and that he is the only moderate figure wanting good relations with India and the rest of the world?” said a former PML-N minister known for his radical views against the security establishment.
“You want us to create public pressure so that the security establishment removes the PTI government unceremoniously, gives them the victim card and then we negotiate with the same establishment that got us here in the first place? Do you think we are that crazy?” said the same former minister.
With economy going south and the FATF pressure mounting, inflation touching the highest mark in last five years, gas and the electricity tariffs going over the roof, many analysts predict major trouble for the PTI government this summer, especially after the budget is announced and Pakistan formally goes under a new IMF program.
As conditions worsen, there are fresh moves to muzzle the media and critical voices. Last Sunday night, senior journalist Marian Baabar got a visitor on her door. She categorised this as an intimidation manoeuver. The situation has worsened to the point that even her newspaper did not report the incident and she had to put up the news on Twitter. Last week, Channel 24 was blocked after comments by a senior journalist who was informing his viewers about Imran Khan and his government.
This week Shehzeb Jilani, a veteran journalist with global credentials, is being hounded with an FIR lodged against him by a lawyer of dubious distinctions, known for filing frivolous lawsuits. The same lawyer was debarred to enter the Supreme Court of Pakistan because of his antics. Last month, a secret letter was leaked mentioning the FIA “investigating” five top journalists of Pakistan because they had put up pictures of the slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on their Twitter profiles during the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman. Suppression of freedom of expression, locking up opposition leaders and worsening economic conditions for the common men is a lethal cocktail. Let us hope the powers that be realise this before it is too late.