- Does an APC really mean anything at this point?
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto has been berating the PTI over its failure to deliver on promises made and alleged corruption, for over a month now, while trying to unify opposition parties against the government as well. Perhaps the biggest hurdle in achieving this consensus was the PML-N as its president and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, remained elusive. It seemed as though Shehbaz Sharif was weighing his options before openly supporting the PPP in any fresh putsch against the ruling party. It is a well-known fact that the younger Sharif, unlike his elder brother, has always maintained good relations with the ubiquitous establishment, keeping all channels of communication open so that whenever a political opportunity presents itself, he is aware of it and can avail it fully. After ducking Bilawal’s phone calls, Shehbaz has finally come around, having a fourth conversation with the latter within two weeks and also green lighting a delegation of PML-N leaders to visit Bilawal at his Lahore residence yesterday, to iron out details of an All Parties Conference (APC) that the PPP is looking to co-host with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman soon. Rehman has been itching to hold a multi-party conference against the PTI for a while, especially since his 2019 ‘dharna’ ended up achieving nothing, abruptly ending after finding no support from the powers that allow and enable such processions to continue for longer than they really should. The PPP and PML-N reluctantly supported the JUI-F’s sit-in for a day or two, sending a clear message that they were not out to topple the government, which was the advertised goal of Fazlur Rehman’s efforts.
Given this troubled history between major opposition parties, with each facing its own set of troubles, NAB cases abound and what not, self-preservation will remain a dominant feature meaning that any alliance, however strong it may seem, will actually be quite weak. The PTI meanwhile, with Covid-19 now apparently under control and chatter of an in-house change having died down, has a new lease on life. Prime Minister Imran Khan has also somehow saved CM Buzdar in Punjab and disgruntled allies are making less noise than they were a month ago. The PPP and PML-N can continue with their politics in the limited space allotted to them, but they do not pose any immediate threat to the ruling party so long as it has the support that the opposition also craves.
