Amidst the absence of the heads of two major opposition parties-President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Shahbaz Sharif and Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari-the joint opposition's All Parties Conference (APC) on Monday announced to "come to Islamabad to end this government." Held under the chair of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the APC decided to prepare a 'Charter of Demands' before coming to the federal capital in a bid to dislodge the government; however, it did not finalise any timeframe in this regard.
Shahbaz Sharif expressed his inability to attend the APC citing 'acute backache,' it is learnt. Bilawal was on a tour to Skardu on Monday and was unavailable for APC. Sources said that at the start of the APC, the participants decided to divide the moot into two sessions. The first session discussed the situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and the second session discussed opposition's collective strategy against the government.
Khawaja Asif, Ayaz Sadiq and Ahsan Iqbal from PML-N, Nayyar Bukhari and Sherry Rehman from PPP as well as leaders from other opposition parties attended the conclave. "We have decided in today's APC that that the opposition parties would come to Islamabad that would prove to be a last nail in the coffin of this government," Fazlur Rehman told a press conference after the APC meeting.
"The meeting has decided that opposition parties would prepare a Charter of Demand that would be available with us before we come to Islamabad," he said. Rehman said that Rahbar Committee would meet on August 26 and August 29 to finalise a collective strategy against the government. "The opposition forces have decided to launch a decisive movement against this inefficient, unjust and illegal government. That campaign would only end once this government meets its end," Fazal said.
To a question regarding three-year extension given to Chief of Army Staff (CoAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday, Rehman said, "The army chief's extension has nothing to do with politics. Extensions are granted to government employees. The army chiefs were given extensions in the past. It is not something unusual. The issue of army chief's extension should not be dragged into politics."
Rehman reiterated complete support for the people of IOK. "All the opposition forces stand shoulder to shoulder with our Kashmiri brethren. We would leave no stone unturned to highlight the evil face of India's atrocious regime and plight of Kashmiris at every forum," according to Rehman. He strongly criticised the policies of federal government regarding Kashmir.
Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan took a dig at the opposition's APC in the backdrop of the absence of PML-N and PPP chiefs. "In the new episode of opposition's 'come let's do politics,' PPP and PML-N once again played with Maulana. The APC fell victim to Shehbaz Sharif's backache and Bilawal's party visit. How can they, who are not even truthful to each other, be true to the nation?" she tweeted.
The first APC of the opposition parties was held on June 26 that had decided to bring no-confidence motion against the chairman Senate. But in what came as a major setback to the opposition forces in the first APC, the PML-N and the PPP, turned down the APC's proposal to quit the Parliament -a scenario that seriously undermined the efforts of smaller political groups to launch a full-fledged anti-government campaign. Moreover, JI, an opposition party that contested the last year's general elections in alliance with JUI-F under the joint umbrella of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), refused to be part of the APC and did not attend the conclave. The Rahbar Committee was formed in the first APC. The panel was tasked to ensure implementation of the decisions taken in the conclave. However, the key decisions taken in the first APC remain far from materialisation which also included the decision that opposition parties would hold joint public gatherings in all the four provinces against the federal government.
On August 9, the Rahbar Committee, an alliance of anti-government opposition parties having representation in the parliament, had decided to convene an APC to finalise strategy against the federal government after Eid-ul-Azha. In the same meeting, the opposition parties had decided that they would speedily investigate the possible defections of their members during no-confidence motion against Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, which proved unsuccessful.
On August 1, in a highly embarrassing scenario for the joint opposition, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, just by three votes. The no-confidence motion was moved by all the opposition parties having representation in the Parliament except JI. In dramatic turn of events, the joint opposition that had 64 votes in favour of the no-confidence resolution, ended up with only 50 votes at the voting stage in favour of opposition's joint candidate Hasil Bizenjo from National Party. This implied that 14 voters from the opposition had possibly defected in favour of Sanjrani. In 104-member Senate that presently has 103 members (Ishaq Dar has not taken oath as a senator) the opposition needed 53 votes to prove majority against Sanjrani. A total number of 100 votes were cast, of which 50 votes went against Sanjrani, 45 in his favour and five votes were rejected. Two JI senators Siraj ul Haq and Mushtaq Ahmad abstained from voting and did not attend the session. Chaudhry Tanvir from Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was abroad as he also did not show up at the session. The voting result indicated that even if all the five rejected votes belonged to opposition, still at least nine opposition senators have possibly voted for Sanjrani.
Sources said there was no headway on investigation in defections during the no-confidence motion against chairman Senate in Monday APC. "This is a highly embarrassing episode for us. Public statements apart, practically, there is hardly anything that can be done. Given that the voting on the motion was carried out through secret ballot, it is impossible to determine who voted for whom," said an opposition leader, who attended the APC, requesting anonymity.
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