The season of street protests is upon us. Leaders of 11 opposition parties, meeting at an iftar-dinner hosted by Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto on Sunday, have announced their intention to launch an anti-government drive in the parliament and outside following some more consultation. Politics is all about giving a credible voice to public sentiments. It is about time the opposition spoke for a people facing the debilitating consequences of the fast deteriorating economic conditions. Opinions might vary about the timing of the opposition drive given the fact that the incumbents have yet to complete a year at the helm of affairs. A majority would however have no qualms about it. In fact most people would consider it the opposition’s duty to pressure the government to announce some pro-people measures in the coming budget. Prime Minister Imran Khan should realize that he can only blame himself and some of his more strident colleagues for this. Have they not been challenging the opposition to test the waters, going as far as offering to arrange a container for their use? There has not been a single conciliatory gesture from the government, not even a consultation on issues of national importance. If anything, government leaders have been regularly issuing inflammatory statements rather than reaching out to the opposition to find a way out of the many crises the nation faces. Now that the opposition has found the one thing they can agree one – the government – it will be interesting to see how the next generation of the Sharif and Bhutto families fares in their first test of waging a street protest. Bilawal has shown his political mettle by running a formidable election campaign across Pakistan in 2018 and on the National Assembly floor since the general elections. Maryam Nawaz has her mother’s by-election campaign behind her. Both are likely to be confident about their chances. The situation could easily turn into an undeclared war between their parties as both bid to grab more space for their leaders. Will this drive a wedge in the joint opposition? In the many anti-government drives he joined the late Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan used to be the binding factor. In the absence of an elder statesman whom all sides trust, the responsibility to keep the opposition alliance intact will have to be shared by leaders of all parties. This is something they owe to the people. An opposition alliance is the first step towards holding a strident government to account, thereby creating pressure for good governance. The opposition must see to it that the government desists from imposing harsh fiscal measures on a public already reeling under inflationary pressures. The opposition would do well however not to give up on the parliament as a forum. A misadventure may harm the continuity of elected governments for which many of its leaders have fought hard and long. *