Daily Times

The opposition bigwigs are getting serious. They seem to be moving away from allegations of rigging towards mounting a more serious challenge to largest party in the National Assembly. In a meeting held on Thursday, it was announced that our major parties would attempt to form government on their own.

A draft prepared by Senate opposition leader Sherry Rehman and PML-N’s Mushahid Hussain aims to put into power a Pakistan Muslim League — Nawaz (PML-N) prime minister, a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) National Assembly Speaker, and an MMA Deputy Speaker. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will be given a tough time in the forthcoming elections within the assembly.

An ambitious plan indeed, but not one that will lead to stability. The PTI candidates are likely to win and though the opposition needs to play its role, it is time for our leaders to accept the reality of the situation they find themselves in. Despite the allegations of rigging and manipulation, the opposition parties need to accept that in most constituencies the voters simply rejected them.

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It is time for this opposition to play a serious, constructive role in ensuring that PTI lives up to the promises that it made — instead of indulging in what can only be called petty politics. They may call Khan’s win a step towards a “puppet government”, but there are many ways to hold Khan and his policies accountable as the opposition.

Imran Khan is the man of the moment. He has the requisite numbers and has been frantically wooing independents and smaller parties. The opposition could have shown a little more unity before the elections but they were busy squabbling, as always. The only viable option left for the leaders of the multi-party conference is to take a pragmatic view of the situation. It is the time to focus on where they may have faltered and what can they do to win the electorate. The PTI is a relevant force to reckon with.

For now, many Pakistanis want to see what Khan’s Naya Pakistan means for their collective futures.  *

Published in Daily Times, August 3^rd 2018.