Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The ‘grand opposition alliance’ consisting of like-minded parties Thursday announced to nominate joint candidates for the slots of prime minister, National Assembly speaker and deputy speaker.

“The prime minister will be nominated from the PML-N, speaker of the National Assembly from the PPP, and deputy speaker from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA),” PPP leader Sherry Rehman told reporters at the conclusion of an all-parties conference (APC) held in the federal capital.

The like-minded group comprising PML-N, PPP, MMA, ANP and other regional parties has combined 120 seats in the National Assembly following the July 25 general elections.

The opposition forces, including mainstream parties and smaller groups, have formed a 16-member committee to nominate joint candidates for the prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker slots. “We have formed a working committee that would formulate terms of references [ToRs] for fielding candidates for the prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker positions in the National Assembly,” Sherry Rehman said.

The opposition parties unanimously decided not to boycott parliament and give tough time to Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) which is about to form government in the Center following the July 25 general elections. “We will sit in the parliament to counter the puppet government,” Rehman said.

The meeting, held at the residence of former speaker of the National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, once again unanimously rejected the results of the July 25 general elections, calling those ‘highly manipulated’. “The mandate taken by them is rigging-laden,” Rehman said, pledge to lodge protest within and outside the parliament.

The PPP leader said that the parties would jointly release a white paper within a few days and that a working committee has already been formed for the purpose. “NADRA has admitted that the RTS system was not faulty but was rather jeopardised. The level at which the elections have been rigged, with one organisation having been given the right to run the process, is unacceptable,” she declared.

Hitting hard at the election commission, the PPP senator said, “We have rejected the rigged election results and we also rejected the Election Commission of Pakistan [ECP].”Without naming the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Sherry Rehman said, “One political party was elevated over others. We believe that elections should be free, fair and impartial. But since we are here after a democratic struggle, we would stand by democratic forces and use it at every platform, both inside and outside parliament.”

ANP leader Mian Iftikhar said that their policy is aggressive and not defensive, adding that the like-minded parties will form government, not opposition.

PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal said, “It is for the first time in the political history of the country that all major parties have teamed up as a force to ensure democracy.”

PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb said that opposition parties will sit in parliament. “We were perhaps chosen to teach PTI a thing or two about the opposition,” she said.

“We are all democratic forces and we have decided that we will sit in the parliament and carry on our protest,” Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Liaquat Baloch said. The ECP was given the task to conduct impartial elections while the caretaker government was responsible for supervising it, he said. “However, the elections were hijacked by other forces,” he lamented.

Sources said the name of PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif is being considered for prime minister’s slot and PPP’s Khursheed Shah for the National Assembly speaker. A session of the joint action committee will be held and ToRs for fielding the joint candidates will be formulated within three days. The opposition parties are also likely to hold a rally in the capital near the Red Zone on the day of prime minister’s oath-taking.

Besides leaders from the PML-N, PPP and MMA, other members in attendance at the conference belonged to Awami National Party (ANP), Qaumi Watan Party (QWP), Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), and the National Party (NP).

Due to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s decision to join PTI in forming government in the Centre, it was not invited to attend the conference. Members of Balochistan National Party-Mengal and the Mustafa Kamal-led Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) were also not present at the meeting.

In a statement issued soon after the opposition parties announced to bring their own candidates for the posts of prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker, the PTI said, “The opposition parties have every right to exercise their political will. However, we have already told the opposition that they are welcome to bring whatever grievances they have to us and we will address them.”

“We also welcome their decision to approach the parliament. PML-N and PPP’s decision to reject the JUI-F’s call and go to the parliament instead is indeed a welcoming step,” PTI spokesperson Fawad Chaudhry maintained, adding that similarly “it was the opposition’s right to form a democratic alliance”.

Questioning the basis for the opposition’s stance, he said, “From a political standpoint their statement is well and good, however the fact remains that the government and the speaker will belong to whoever has the numbers – and that happens to be PTI”.

Published in Daily Times, August 3^rd 2018.