While both Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz have toughened up their stance against the government, particularly the prime minister, in recent days the elder politicians in their parties – Asif Zardari and Shahbaz Sharif – have strangely struck a more reconciliatory note. Both the senior leaders have held out an olive branch to the beleaguered government in their parliamentary speeches and suggested that the economic managers sit down with the opposition to discuss economic problems faced by the country. Syed Khurshid Shah, a senior Pakistan Peoples Party leader is said have told Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief whip Amir Dogar that the prime minister should reach out to the opposition for talks on economy. Shahbaz Sharif is even calling the potential agreement a Charter of Economy. Not content with waiting for a response from the government side, PML-N vice-president Maryam Nawaz has categorically rejected the Charter of Economy proposal. She says her ailing father Nawaz Sharif, too, does not approve of offering cooperation to the government. Going further, she has urged other opposition parties to let the government deal with its problems on its own. She is thus closely following the line taken by Bilawal Bhutto, who in a public rally in Nawabshah, warned the prime minister against anti-opposition measures. The matter of of how to deal with the government appears recently to have polarized both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the PPP. The only beneficiary of the development can will be the government. There appears to be no such disagreement in Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf. Budget speeches by Treasury members have show that they are united on at least one point: no concessions must be given to the opposition even if parliamentary norms cannot be met. The National Assembly speaker has been under pressure not to issue production orders for Asif Zardari and Khwja Saad Rafiq. Opposition parties need to first get their own house in order and bring their rank and file on the same page. Both the PPP and the PML-N apparently need internal debate on the factors that are causing fissures within their parties. Having independent opinions within a party is healthy but being unable to resolve difference on key issues can damage the party. The June 25 conference of political parries should focus, among other points, on intra-party polarisation. Without that the opposition cannot bring adequate pressure to bear on the government for pro-people policies. *