Muhammad Hanif
AS a result of winning a majority of the seats in the July 2018 general election, the PTI, in alliance with PML (Q), MQM-P, BAP, and PML-F is ruling at the Centre. The Punjab and the KP are also being ruled by the PTI in alliance with other parties. The Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir are being governed by the PPP, BAP and PML (N) respectively. At the Centre PML (N), PPP, JUI, ANP and MNP (Mengal) are the major opposition parties. With the formation of the government at the Centre in August 2018, Imran Khan’s government started reinforcing the NAB’s ongoing anti-corruption and anti-money laundering drive, as ending the corruption in the country was a major point of PTI’s election manifesto.
After completing the first two years of its rule, the Imran’s government claimed its success that it had achieved economic stability as the major macro-economic indicators had become positive and the government was now able to pay the yearly installment of US $ 7 billion as part of returning huge foreign loans of about US $ 100 billion taken and amassed by the previous PML (N) and PPP governments from 2008 to 2018 and that the rupee had also been stabilized after its initial devaluation. But, at the same time, the prices of the commodities of daily use had escalated too much that had badly hit the poor, which had subjected the government to the criticism by the common people.
In July 2017, Nawaz Sharif as the then Prime Minister had been disqualified by the Supreme Court from holding office for life on corruption charges, and in 2019, he was punished and imprisoned for seven years by an accountability court. In November 2019, Nawaz Sharif was given bail and allowed by the High Court to travel to London for his medical treatment for four weeks. By then, many PML (N) leaders, including Shehbaz Sharif, Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Miftah Ismail, Khawja Saad Rafique and Hamza Shehbaz, PPP leaders, including Asif Zardari, his sister and Khurshid Shah and some PTI leaders, like Aleem Khan were facing NAB inquiries for corruption and money laundering cases against them. In September/October 2020, Nawaz Sharif had also failed to return from London to implement the Islamabad High Court’s orders to appear before the court and he had been declared as an absconder.
Presumably having frustrated out of their corruption cases and also encouraged by the peoples’ resentment against the PTI government against the rising prices, the opposition comprising the PML (N), PPP and JUI and other smaller parties held a conference on 20 September 2020, attended by the heads of all parties. The conference culminated in the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), with its agenda being ousting the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan led PTI government, by alleging it as an unrepresentative and selected one, for having failed to govern the country effectively, accountability being done for opposition’s political victimization and for failing to control the rising prices. The PDM had announced that it will hold countrywide public meetings; protest demonstrations and rallies in November and December; and a “decisive long march” towards Islamabad in January 2021.
The PDM has already held public gatherings in Gujranwala, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar. During its Gujranwala and Quetta public gatherings, Nawaz Sharif addressed the public gatherings from London virtually and blamed the COAS and the DG, ISI by name alleging that they were responsible for removing him from the premiership, installing the Imran Khan’s selected government, for bad governance of the PTI government and the escalated commodity prices.
Nawaz Sharif’s this anti-Army narrative without any basis, had drawn a negative response from PPP leaders, many PML (N) leaders, JUI leaders and the general public. Bilawal openly differed with Nawaz Sharif on blaming the COAS and the DG ISI by name. Lt Gen Qadir and Sana Ullah Zehri have left PML (N) in protest. Even Shehbaz Sharif, answering a question, said, he preferred consultation over the confrontation. Hafiz Hussein Ahmed of JUI criticized Nawaz Sharif on his anti-Army narrative. There was also a wide resentment of Nawaz’s anti-Army narrative among the people, as PDM’s gatherings were not largely attended by the masses except their diehard activists. This situation indicates that while cracks have developed in the PDM, it has failed to attract the popular public support.
It is quite clear that with the Nawaz’s narrative dominating the PDM’s original narrative, the people of Pakistan would continue to resent this and the PDM will not be able to win over the wider public support. Moreover, lacking credible evidence, PDM’s narrative has lost its credibility and it has become self-defeating, as it has not been accepted by the people. Therefore, it appears that PDM is not serious about anything, except pressuring the government to end their corruption cases. Also, due to the government’s recent success in controlling the commodity prices to an extent, the opposition cannot exploit this issue also. And, PTI government’s success in the GB elections also indicates that the people still prefer the PTI government over others.
In view of the above discussion, it seems whereas the PDM’s original narrative was already weak, it has been further tainted by Nawaz Sharif’s anti-Army narrative, which has been widely rejected by the people of Pakistan and also resented by many sane persons in the PDM, and has developed fissures within the movement. Therefore, whereas the government should focus on reducing the commodity prices for the welfare of the people, the only feasible option for the PDM leaders appears to be, that they should go for reconciliation with the government by accepting its latest offer of holding a dialogue. Also, the opposition leaders should have confidence that Supreme Court is there to ensure that all facing the NAB cases for corruption get justice and no body is wronged.
—The writer is an ex-Army Colonel and Senior Research Fellow, Strategic Vision Institute, Islamabad.
