Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Sunday said that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will launch a protest movement after holding consultations with other political parties. The senior leadership of the party seems to be desperate to seek maximum concessions to evade accountability. Analysts believe that the closeness between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the establishment is a clear message to the PPP.
CM Murad Ali Shah made the statement while interacting with media representatives during Dadu Bar Council oath-taking ceremony in Bhan Saeedabad. “People’s Party has a firm belief on democracy and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is chief of Pakistan’s biggest political party,” he claimed.
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He predicted that ‘in-house change will be made through a constitutional and democratic process.” “Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government has delivered nothing to the nation and put an additional financial burden on the nationals amid inflation.”
While answering a question, the chief minister said PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s bail was approved on medical grounds but he is well-aware of the national politics.
Toppling the government?
Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), has once again threatened to topple the government for not having a legitimate mandate. The JUFI-F’s chief believes that the elections were neither free nor fair, and therefore, the government has no right to stay in power.
Maulana has announced that he will launch a campaign against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government by holding public gatherings in Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad in the coming days. He made the announcement after holding a consultative meeting with allied parties in Lahore.
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He further said the JUI-F and its allied parties will hold a public gathering in Karachi on February 23, in Islamabad March 1 and on March 19 in Lahore.
The JUI-F chief said that he discussed the Azadi March and establishment of a constitutional and elected government in the country with Allama Sajid Mir of the Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith.
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Talking about other opposition parties, the JUI-F chief said, “No doubt, the opposition has become divided due to some policies of big parties and the government has taken advantage of it.”
He added that the JUI-F was focused on how all the parties will join each other on a mutual platform to deliver a message of unity to masses.
Criticizing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PML-Q, he said that the situation had changed after the passage of bills pertaining to the extension of the services chiefs.
Bilawal offers ministries to MQM-P
It is worth noting that the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto has publically offered ministries to MQM-P if it decides to quit the coalition government in the center. During his address, Bilawal said if MQM breaks off its alliance with PTI and manages to get Sindh its share in resources, the provincial government will “stand by [MQM] for the sake of Karachi’s people”.
“Today or tomorrow, all the facilitators, all the allies [of PTI] will have to take this decision, will have to save Pakistan and end Naya Pakistan. Topple it, topple it, topple Imran’s government,” he said. “We will give you an equal number of ministries in Sindh. The only condition is that you send Imran home,” the PPP chairman further said.
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In response to Bilawal’s offer, Waseem Akhtar had said the party will take the final decision on whether it should quit the coalition government or not. He said while the MQM-P and the PPP could “sit together” to solve Karachi’s problems, the mayor said his party had not joined the coalition government for seats but to resolve Karachi’s outstanding issues. “MQM-P has never indulged in the politics of ministries. We supported the PTI so that Karachi’s issues could be resolved,” Akhtar had said.
Except PTI, all other opposition parties seem to be on the same page, and want the government to be toppled without giving it to any second thought. However, the government, on the other hands, looks confident and determined to complete its constitutional term.