The joint opposition has failed yet again to unite behind a consensus candidate. First, it was the candidature of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif for the Prime Minister’s election, and now, it is the presidential election which in all likelihood will be a three-way race among the PTI-led ruling coalition’s Arif Alvi, PPP’s Aitezaz Ahsan and the rest of the opposition’s Maulana Fazlur Rahman – except if PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari manages to pull a last minute trick by endorsing Alvi. A major factor that has divided the opposition is the decade-long history of mistrust between the PPP and the PML-N following the historic Charter of Democracy, says veteran journalist Mazhar Abbass. He says the main leadership of both parties has taken extreme positions against each other, and continues to do so, diminishing the possibility of a united front.
History aside, the significance of the present moment also needs to be appreciated. PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif is imprisoned and his younger brother, not known for his political skills, is in charge of the parliamentary party.
In this situation, Zardari considers PML-N to be a sinking ship, Abbass says, adding that he is unwilling to lose out on an opportunity to strike a deal with the powers-that-be. The FIA-led investigation into a money laundering case in which he and his close aides are nominated harms the opposition’s case further.
Abbass goes as far as suggesting that Zardari floated Aitezaz Ahsan’s name precisely because he knew that he would not be acceptable to the PML-N.
But will the PPP leader get what he is after so easily. Probably not with Imran Khan in the PM’s Office. Abbass says Khan will be reluctant to let Zardari go away with any deal that will tarnish his credibility, adding that the powers-that-be will also have to consider Khan’s reservations.
Ultimately, the opposition will remain divided in months to come. But the PML-N must not be written out so soon, cautions Nusrat Javed, another veteran of the profession. He takes exception to the impression that PML-N is a sinking ship. Contrary to its perception as a party of power, the PML-N has done opposition multiple times, he reminds and says that he foresees a situation where the Sharifs will do opposition politics in the streets, with Maryam Nawaz out of jail, as well as in the Parliament in coming months.
Published in Daily Times, August 28th 2018.
