Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Major political parties who suffered defeat in the recently held general elections on Monday decided to form a ‘grand opposition alliance’ to give the government-in-waiting of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) a hard time.

The meeting attended by leaders of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Awami National Party (ANP) in Islamabad agreed to formulate a joint strategy on alleged rigging in the July 25 general elections. They decided to call another multi-party conference, despite the failure of the one held in Islamabad last week.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, MMA chief Fazlur Rehman said no precedent of rigging on this scale in general elections in the country exists. He claimed that protest demonstrations were being held across the country against the ‘unprecedented poll rigging’. He said mandate of the people has been stolen but the media is not highlighting the protests. “Why is there a ban on media coverage of these protests?” he asked. Those stealing the mandate of the masses should be ashamed of themselves, he said.

“There has never been a consensus on election rigging like this before,” Fazl said, and urged the nation, establishment and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to realise the severity of the situation. He, however, announced that the MMA will not boycott proceedings of the parliament.

Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani said parliament was the best platform to raise the issues pertaining to election irregularities and ‘political engineering’. He vowed to play the role of a strong opposition within and outside of the parliament.

Senior PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq while demanding resignation from the ECP authorities said all parties have rejected the electoral process. The election commission appears helpless, he added.

It was decided in the meeting that the grand opposition will issue a white paper on rigging during the elections. The meeting claimed that they have the support of 120 members in the National Assembly compared to 116 of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. Political parties in Balochistan will also be taken into confidence over the grand opposition alliance.

The PPP delegation was led by Khursheed Shah, and included Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Yousaf Raza Gilani and Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif led his party’s delegation which included Raja Zafarul Haq, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Asif. Ghulam Ahmed Bilour and Mian Iftikhar represented the ANP, while Fazlur Rehman and Anas Noorani represented the MMA.

Separately, addressing a press conference in Lahore, Jamaat-i-Islami chief Siraj-ul-Haq rejected MMA President Fazal-ur-Rehman’s suggestion to boycott the oath taking ceremony of the new parliament. He said he did not believe in responding to disagreement with hostility. “We will sit in the opposition with complete dignity and play our part,” he said.

The JI chief and deputy president of MMA further noted that a responsible leadership was put in charge of the electoral process, however excessive intervention of state institutions affected the public opinion. “All efforts were made to remove the national and political leadership from the picture,” he said. “From Karachi to Dir, poll results were not released in a timely manner. The electoral process was made suspicious and it is regrettable that polling agents were sent out while the votes were being counted.”

Siraj said that an effort was made to target democracy. “However, despite serious reservations, we are ready to give a chance to the new government to prove itself. We will wait for Imran Khan to fulfill his promises to make Pakistan a welfare state like Madina,” he said.

Published in Daily Times, July 31^st 2018.