NATIONAL political landscape might transform in weeks and months to come if the latest moves by the Government as well as the opposition are taken to fruition in a spirit of give and take. As the Government and the Opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) have adopted a reconciliatory approach to bring down tension in politics, there are moves by some opposition parties to form a joint opposition in the parliament, a development with prospects to give a tough time to the Government on legislative as well as national issues from the platform of the parliament. Such a move will surely contribute significantly to bring the focus back on parliamentary politics, an aspect that remained neglected because of the lackluster attitude of both the Government and the Opposition parties to an institution, which is, otherwise, considered supreme in the parliamentary system.
At a time when the country was facing a host of internal and external problems and challenges, national unity has become a necessity and in this backdrop the Government-Opposition contacts are appreciable as such a course of action would benefit both. After founder Chairman of PTI Imran Khan was moved out of the Adyala Jail for medical treatment in a private hospital as per directions of the Supreme Court, the Government has indicated further flexibility in handling the issue of Imran’s health by declaring that the former Prime Minister can be sent abroad for medical check-up, should it become necessary. The statement of Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, could prove to be a harbinger of actual departure of IK abroad for a limited or prolonged stay, to be determined by the kind of understanding between the two sides. Doubts were also cast on the decision of the Government to file a review petition in the Supreme Court but the Minister clarified that the apex court had been moved only to see clarification on whether the relief in the recent order of the SC was limited to one individual or applicable to other prisoners too. In a related development, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has renewed his offer to the opposition for a meaningful dialogue to resolve all issues through negotiations, saying it takes two to tango and that it now depends on the Opposition how soon it is prepared to engage constructively. No doubt, the Prime Minister, known for his reconciliatory approach, repeatedly made such offers ever since assumption of office but nothing substantial emerged mainly because of the hard stance of the PTI, which claimed there was no point in talking to the Government and that it wants to hold talks with the Establishment. However, the latest offer made from the platform of the Federal Cabinet might produce different results because of the changed environment. Both the Government and the Opposition have wasted a lot of time, which should have, otherwise, gone to promote welfare of the people. Their fruitful engagement can afford an opportunity to the Government to pay more attention to real issues of security, law and order, back-breaking inflation, squeezing job opportunities and alienation of the masses due to the unending process of bitter and hard measures affecting households. Similarly, the main opposition party could come to the centre-stage of parliamentary politics and can play an effective role in bringing about a change in the existing governance style and provision of relief to the people. The decision of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai and JUI (F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to hold further consultations to form a united opposition and evolve a joint political strategy augurs well for people-centric politics as the opposition so far has miserably failed to prove itself as a genuine voice of aggrieved segments of the society. In fact, Jamat-i-Islami (JI), which has negligible presence in the elected houses, is more vocal in raising issues that directly affect lives of the people. The PPP, which is one of the major stakeholders in the present system, seems to be undecided as to what role it should play. Despite being part of and beneficiary of the system, the party continues to build pressure, off and on, on the PML(N) Government in an apparent bid to get more than due share; puts blames of failures on the major coalition partner and level charges of rigging in elections as it did in the recently held polls in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Re-alignments are expected in the second half of the Government’s tenure but nothing can be predicted with certainty as anything could happen in a free-for-all political environment.
