THE opposition parties, on conclusion of their two day conference, adopted a declaration calling for the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law, fresh ‘fair’ elections, release of political prisoners and an end to what it called a government crackdown on dissent.
The declaration demanded abolition of the amendments that contradict the spirit of the Constitution.
The high sounding declaration of the nascent alliance of the opposition parties is understandable as aggressive posture keeps the entity relevant albeit at the cost of much-needed political stability and continuity.
The PTI being the dominant component of the new alliance, it was but natural that its point of view got prominence in the fresh charter of demands.
The party, which failed to pressurize the government through extreme strategies and approaches over the last one year, can now highlight its demands from a new platform.
Similarly, the newly registered party of former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, needed a weighty forum to gain recognition and remain relevant in the political arena, where scores of parties are already struggling to survive.
As for demands of the alliance, called Tehreek-e-Tahaffuz-e-Aeen-e-Pakistan (its abbreviation TTAP ironically resembles TTP), no one would disagree that the root cause of the prevailing political crisis in Pakistan is the flagrant disregard for the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law.
While the opposition has blamed the government for this disregard, the other side is accusing the opposition of spreading anarchy by not accepting the mandate of the ruling parties.
There is a track record of raising hue and cry on the pretext of ‘rigging’ and ‘manipulation’ after almost every general election in apparent moves to delegitimize the winner.
The opposition is dubbing the present government as a product of ‘rigged elections’ and the ruling coalition viewed 2018 elections as ‘rigged’ through the RTS fiasco.
There will be no end to this blame game until and unless all political parties change their narrow vision of politics and learn to respect each other’s mandate.
Rhetoric notwithstanding, it is somewhat encouraging that the moot, at least for now, did not agree on launching any movement against the government.
It was widely believed that the PTI wanted the alliance to use its street power to advance its own strategy but reluctance of JUI (F) to join the alliance has frustrated this plan.
The JUI (F) has clarified that it participated in the conference of the alliance as a delegate but did not sign the declaration.
The new entity has obviously failed to make the desired impact and with this in view one wonders why the government invited bad press by indulging in frivolous tactics of denying a venue for holding the conference.
It was not a violent street protest but a gathering of the leadership and opinion-makers and the way attempts were made to undermine the moot lent credibility to the impression about intolerance to dissent.
