ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) considers both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf responsible for the prevailing political crisis in the country, saying the two parties do not give importance to parliament.

“The PML-N and the PTI have the same teacher who has taught them the same syllabus,” said PPP’s Saeed Ghani while commenting on the political situation prevailing in the country due to the government’s failure to hold investigation into the Panamagate scam and Imran Khan’s call to besiege Islamabad on Oct 30.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, Mr Ghani said the PPP believed that the demand of the PTI that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif present himself for accountability was correct, but the mode of protest adopted by the party was not in the country’s interest.

He said the PPP could not support any move for besieging cities through use of force because such actions would create hardships for the common people and set a wrong precedent, and in future it would become difficult for anyone to rule the country, if the governments were sent packing through blockade of a few roads in the capital.

The PPP leader said the PTI’s way of doing politics in isolation was in fact strengthening the PML-N’s rule. Instead of taking a solo flight, he added, the PTI should have taken all opposition parties on board to increase pressure on the government that could ultimately force the prime minister to resign.

Mr Ghani said his party would not allow anyone to undermine parliament and would continue to play its role for its supremacy. He said the PPP had not supported the PTI’s sit-in in 2014 because at that time Mr Khan was abusing parliament as a whole. This time, however, the PTI was only targeting the government, and not parliament, he added.

The PPP leader advised the government to agree on a bill tabled by the opposition in the Senate seeking formation of a judicial commission to hold investigation into the Panama Papers leaks which had revealed the names of hundreds of Pakistanis, including members of the Sharif family, who had set up offshore companies.

Mr Ghani also criticised the PTI for stating that the PPP was playing the role of the PML-N government’s saviour and said his party had always stood for parliament’s sovereignty and upholding of the Constitution and it would continue to do so as the leadership and workers of the party had rendered great sacrifices for the cause of democracy in the country.

The PPP leader said it was in the same spirit that the party had suggested formation of a parliamentary committee to draft terms of reference for the proposed judicial commission on Panamagate. However, he regretted, due to the government’s stubbornness, the committee failed to complete its task, resulting in the present crisis.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2016