ISLAMABAD: Although the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) is still counting on support from likeminded parties for their march on Raiwind, the party’s own lack of clarity on the modalities of the protest is preventing other opposition parties from locking down their strategy for September 30.

Party chairman Imran Khan said over the weekend that this would be a far bigger rally than their earlier outings and would aim to pressurise the government into holding free and fair investigations into Panamagate, which implicates the first family as well.

Due to a lull in political activity over the Eid break, PTI has not been able to formally reach out to parties such as the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) and their old allies in the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT).

PTI spokesperson Naeemul Haq told Dawn that party leaders would start reaching out to other party heads and formally invite them to the Raiwind march in a day or two.

He said the party’s Lahore chapter was currently finalising the venue for the gathering, after which the plan would be communicated to all concerned.

PML-Q, PAT willing to join if formally invited to participate

Although Imran Khan has been known to opt for a solo flight in such matters, the PTI leadership has tried to take the opposition along with them on the Panama Papers issue, both inside and outside parliament.

But their indecisiveness over the venue and other modalities of the protest has kept potential allies in the dark and is preventing them from locking down a concrete strategy for Sept 30. Other parties may support the objective of the proposed march; holding Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family accountable for their massive offshore holdings and high-value properties in London, but they say they have yet to hear from the PTI on this subject.

PML-Q Information Secretary Kamil Ali Agha said that earlier, when PTI announced it would march on Raiwind, his party had expressed reservations over the plan to lay siege to the Sharif family’s residential complex. Now that the PTI leadership has clarified its position, saying that marchers will not try to besiege Jati Umrah, they would certainly consider joining the gathering if they were invited, Senator Agha said.

Created by the former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf, the PML-Q is down to only a couple of seats in the National Assembly. But it continues to enjoy support in certain pockets of Punjab, which could be helpful for the PTI’s Raiwind march. The party had participated in PTI’s earlier Panama Papers-specific rally, held in Lahore on September 3.

But it is PAT that has its own set of reservations about the Raiwind march. Talking to Dawn, PAT Secretary General Khurram Nawaz Gandapur said: “Frankly speaking, we really don’t know what the PTI is up to until now.”

The last time PTI invited his party for a rally, they had fully participated. This time, however, there hadn’t been any communication between the two sides so far.

The PAT leader said his was an organised and disciplined party and always participated in such gatherings with full preparation. Mr Gandapur continued: “Until now, we don’t know whether the PTI is organising a march, a jalsa or a dharna, because in each case we need to prepare our workers accordingly.”

To a question, the PAT leader was critical of the PTI leadership for not formally inviting his party to participate in the march, saying, “It will be difficult for us to get ready if they [PTI leaders] invite us on Sept 29.”

Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq said his party had its own rally scheduled for Sept 30 in Faisalabad on the same issue. Therefore, Mr Haq said, the party was channelling all its energies to make its own show a success.

PPP’s Nadeem Afzal Chan, who advises his party leadership on Punjab-specific issues, said that his party hadn’t discussed the issue of their participation in the PTI march thus far.

PPP’s Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah had already said his party wouldn’t participate in any march on the Sharifs’ residential complex and also announced his party’s plans to hold Panama Papers-specific rallies against the government early next month.

All three parties had participated in the PTI’s earlier Lahore rally on Sept 3.

But PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Dawn though his party had invited all likeminded political forces to join the march, they would fully respect whatever decisions their respective leaderships made.

“The purpose of the march is to highlight the Panama Papers issue, on which opposition parties are united inside parliament. Outside, however, they are free to raise the issue as they deem fit,” he said.

Published in Dawn September 21st, 2016