ISLAMABAD: The ongoing tussle between the country’s two major opposition parties on the appointment of Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as leader of the opposition in the Senate intensified on Wednesday when the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) declared that it would not accept Shehbaz Sharif as the opposition leader in the National Assembly, if Mr Gilani was not supported by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the upper house of parliament.

“If the PML-N and the JUI-F decide not to recognise the opposition leader in the Senate then we will also be forced not to accept the opposition leader in the National Assembly,” said PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar in a statement.

The PPP leader’s statement came amid reports that the PML-N and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) have decided not to recognise Mr Gilani as the opposition leader and form a new block on opposition benches in the Senate.

The decision was made by the two parties during a meeting between PML-N senior vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and JUI-F secretary general Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri in a meeting on Tuesday night.

Mustafa Nawaz opposes his party’s decision to get support of BAP

Mr Qamar was of the view that all important decisions should be taken with consensus and from the platform of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), saying if the PML-N and the JUI-F would make decisions on their own then “there is no use of the opposition’s alliance”.

The PPP leader said the two parties had already damaged the PDM by linking the proposed long march with en masse resignations from assemblies.

Talking to Dawn, PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi confirmed that he had discussed the proposal about formation of a new opposition block in the Senate with Maulana Haideri. He, however, said that a final decision in this regard would be made after further consultations with other opposition parties.

In an apparent reference to Mr Gilani’s act of seeking support from Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), a part of the ruling alliance, to get the office of the opposition leader, Mr Abbasi said the PML-N in no way could sit on the opposition benches under the patronage of the government.

Responding to Mr Qamar’s statement, Mr Abbasi said if the PPP did not accept Shehbaz Sharif as the opposition leader, it would be of no meaning.

Meanwhile, taking a u-turn, Mr Gilani on Wednesday made a telephonic contact with National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and extended cooperation to him in the smooth conduct of the proceedings of the house.

According to an official handout by the National Assembly Secretariat, Mr Gilani informed the speaker that the PPP would cooperate with him in the smooth conduct of proceedings of the house and for that purpose PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had appointed Naveed Qamar as the focal person.

Mr Gilani and Mr Qaiser discussed the issues of electoral reforms and maintaining cordial atmosphere during the sessions of the assembly.

The speaker reiterated that bringing transparency in the electoral process was the need of the hour and expressed the hope that the opposition would nominate its members at the earliest so that the parliamentary committee could begin its work. Mr Gilani agreed that electoral reforms were necessary.

In an interesting development, PPP’s Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar in a statement opposed his party’s move to get the opposition leader’s office with the support of BAP.

“I believe that taking votes from the ruling alliance has damaged our ideological narrative. If we want to take back space in other provinces, we have to give priority to the issues of the people rather than indulging in power politics,” he said.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2021