Several PPP leaders have revealed that their perception is that a 'clean chit' to the Prime Minister by Supreme Court in the Panamagate case would vindicate PPP's stance; and if it does not give a 'clean chit' then it may lose its leverage in parliament. PPP, which is the second largest parliamentary party in terms of its numbers in both houses of Parliament, 46 in the 342-member National Assembly and 27 in the 104-member Senate, has long been accused by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of playing the role of a "friendly opposition".
Background discussion with several PPP leaders show that its senior leadership wants the Panama case back in parliament as that is precisely where its present strength lies and where it can exert leverage on the PML-N. PPP insiders however maintain that in the event that the court decision is in favour of the Prime Minster while it may provide leverage to the party within the parliament as the second largest party yet if the party leadership decides to use that leverage for resolving issues relating to its senior leaders then its vote bank would suffer further in the 2018 elections in the country, especially in Punjab.
In case the court decision is against the Prime Minister, then it would vindicate the stance of PPP critics that by insisting on Parliament the party was providing a safe passage to the Prime Minister through a 'tacit understanding'. "It would further strengthen the perception of critics who dubbed PPP as the friendly opposition in the Parliament," admitted a senior PPP leader.
The PPP refused to become a party to the Panama papers case in the apex court and had advised PTI not to file a petition, as it wanted to press the government to pass the bill of the joint opposition - Panama Papers Inquiry Bill, 2016 which has already been passed by the Senate.
PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari avoided commenting on Panama papers case during his media talk on March 6, 2017, and party sources said that the leadership had instructed party leaders not to make any public comments on the case prior to the decision of the Supreme Court. PPP's insiders acknowledge that despite the numerical strength in parliament, the party has lost considerable support in all provinces other than in interior Sindh mainly because of what is seen as its tacit support for the Sharifs.
To become relevant in politics the party has to take a politically feasible stance on important issues rather than adopting a safe position that does not upset the applecart, they argue. "The party's policy on the Panama papers is creating confusion within our own ranks. We don't really know whether the objective is to save Nawaz Sharif or to hold him accountable," said another PPP parliamentarian on condition of anonymity.
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