WILL they or won’t they meet on Sept 20 in Islamabad? Even the staunchest supporters of an anti-government movement at this point would be reluctant to bet on the smooth holding of the multiparty conference that is scheduled to be hosted by the PPP leadership. The predictions regarding the outcome of the meeting will have to wait for a more confidence-inspiring moment. The holding of the event itself has turned into a challenge and it is not clear whether the invitees have got the host of their choice. Reports say that some smaller aspiring partners in this ‘developing’ opposition alliance had wished to partake of Shahbaz Sharif’s hospitality as he is the opposition leader in parliament. However, Mr Sharif, as everyone knows by now, has been acting like a reluctant groom who repeatedly shies away from most rituals that are integral to marriages of convenience in the country.

Mr Sharif himself would have perhaps preferred a meaningful opposition inside the National Assembly — and the new parliamentary session might provide him an opportunity to ensure one. In fact, it is what most Pakistanis wary of street agitation would be hoping for, and it is indeed the path to a robust democracy. The long attritional test that the PTI put the country to during its dharna days before the elections came at a cost. The memory of that time has acted as a deterrent against a similar adventure, even against the ruling PTI itself. But it’s also true that if the political parties want to take the fight outside parliament, they would be within their democratic right to do so. The PTI must shoulder the blame for such aspirations, given that it has hardly ever indicated that it wanted parliament to function as a legislative assembly should. Right from the beginning, the ruling party has had no respect for the opposition.

But while the government has given the opposition a reason to unify by branding both the PPP and PML-N as corrupt, the two main parties are often blamed by smaller groups for not playing ball, and for betraying the larger cause — as we saw in the passage of the FATF-related bill. The rift over the FATF law reflects the larger divide in national politics. It shows that the PPP and PML-N are both willing to do what it takes to be accepted as bona fide contenders for the throne. There is also the question of how the smaller potential allies would be ‘rewarded’ in the current circumstances should the opposition succeed in dislodging the government. Many of these allies are radicalised and openly shunned by the establishment after enjoying decades of patronage. This then is the strange opposition mix against the PTI. It is no surprise that fixing a common agenda for this multiparty crowd is proving to be quite an uphill task.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2020