With each opposition party taking a solo flight to organise its own activities, the joint opposition has failed to formulate a collective strategy to observe Black Day today (Thursday) to 'mourn' the completion of one year of, what opposition says, the 'massively rigged' general elections, which were held on the same date last year.
The top leaders of all the opposition parties (except Jamaat-e-Islami) were initially scheduled to assemble in the federal capital on Wednesday to carve out a joint strategy for Black Day, Business Recorder has learnt.
However, the leading stalwarts of the two major opposition parties, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), are in Karachi and Lahore respectively where they are organising separate activities for Black Day at the party-level instead of holding joint activities in collaboration with other opposition parties.
The PML-N and the PPP have given a cold shoulder to the efforts of Emir Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman to come together and chalk out a joint strategy for Black Day, it is further learnt.
Lately, Fazl had been trying to reach out to Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for a meeting but has not received a positive response, according to political sources familiar with the development.
On Wednesday, the JUI-F emir tried to contact Bilawal but he was informed that the PPP chairman was busy overseeing the arrangements of a public gathering the PPP is to hold in Karachi today (Thursday).
A source in the JUI-F told Business Recorder that the JUI-F emir is not happy with the recent statements the top PPP leadership. Recently, during the hearing of a case in accountability court, former President Asif Ali Zardari was asked by the media about the opposition's strategy for the removal of chairman Senate. "Neither did I appoint the chairman Senate nor can I remove him," he had responded. The statement was seen as an indication that PPP was in backdoor contact with the government for a possible deal on the issue of no-confidence motion against chairman Senate. Moreover, Bilawal's recent tweet in which he announced to 'unconditionally support' the government's efforts to engage the world has also reportedly not gone down well with Fazl.
This, according to the source, is the reason why Fazal had called Bilawal a 'kid' while talking to a private news channel on late Wednesday when he was asked to comment on Bilawal's political strategy.
"Zardari's statement on the removal of chairman Senate and Bilawal's tweet about government indicate that something is going on behind the scene to get some relief in the backdrop of serious corruption cases Zardari is faced with," the source said.
Like the PPP, the PML-N leadership led by Shehbaz Sharif is also distancing itself from the decisions taken in the all-parties conference (APC), it is further learnt.
A well-placed source in the PML-N said that while Maryam Nawaz is in favour of celebrating July 25 as Black Day together with other opposition parties, she has not received any support from powerful quarters within the party.
"Maryam may be trying to mobilise public support by taking out rallies in Punjab but the party is in control of Shehbaz who does not believe in confrontation at a time when Sharif family is in deep trouble and serious corruption cases against Sharifs and other senior PML-N leaders are pending in the courts. Shehbaz is not very fond of the decisions taken in the APC like removal of chairman Senate and observing July 25 as Black Day," the party insider said.
When contacted, Chairman PML-N Raja Zafar-ul-Haq denied that the PML-N has backtracked from observing July 25 as Black Day. "It is not necessary that all the party leaders should be in Islamabad for Black Day. By the way, I am the party chairman and I am here in Islamabad. Our party is organising activities in different parts across Pakistan in connection with Black Day. Likewise, other opposition parties are also busy organising activities in their strongholds as per the mutually agreed strategy," he told Business Recorder.
On June 26, the JUI-F emir had convened the APC of opposition parties that had agreed to take a host of initiatives in a bid to give tough time to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government including observing July 25 as Black Day and to bring a no-confidence motion against chairman Senate. The APC also formed a Rahbar Committee, an alliance of anti-government opposition parties, to oversee the implementation of decisions taken in the APC. The Jamaat-e-Islami did not attend the APC and does not support any decision taken in the conclave.
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