Pakistan: Hidden forces trying to make grand alliance against PPP-led govt

Daily Times

Some clandestine powerful segments of the establishment and right-wing intelligentsia are in vigorous action to combine all the scattered opposition politico-religious parties on one platform to initiate a crushing movement to oust the PPP-led coalition government from the corridors of power, Daily Times has learnt from well-placed sources. The sources privy to this development confided to this scribe that certain sections of the establishment are engaged in behind-the-curtain activities to bring all big and small political parties to on one platform on the same pattern exercised in the past by making Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI). According to the sources, the first plan is to unite only political parties having strong reservations against the PPP-led coalition government and in the second phase the religious parties would be invited to strengthen the proposed move against the present regime. The toughest task for them is to bring Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on one platform, although PML-N is willing to join hands with PTI even on the ground of settling a formula of give and take in the upcoming elections, but Imran Khan is so pragmatic about the power of his tsunami that he thinks he needs no support from the PML-N for staging an anti-government move. The sources said the hidden hands are convincing them to act on ‘united you stand, divided you fall’. “The problem in uniting them on one platform is that Imran Khan, a sole decision maker of his party, is not convinced by his party’s inner group led by ex-PPP government’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi,” sources said. The sources said that the PML-N central leader is ready to shake hands with PTI on the ground that it could sacrifice some key constituencies for Imran Khan’s party if Khan withdraws his condition of quitting Punjab government. Just for a friendly gesture, the PML-N announced to support Shaukat Bosan, a brother of PTI leader Sikandar Bosan, an independent candidate for by-election in the constituency of Multan NA-151 against Abdul Qadir Gilani, a son of former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. The sources said the dream of forming a coalition against the government could not be materialised until Imran Khan renounced his often-repeated saying that a “momin” would not put his finger twice in a hole to be bitten by a snake. PTI leader Mian Mahmood Rasheed without naming any leader of his party confirmed that some leaders are trying and favouring alliance with the PML-N to avoid the PPP’s next government. However, a majority of the leaders is against the move and anticipate that the alliance would cause real damage to the party, he added. PTI Central Information Secretary Shafqat Mahmood, categorically denying any move for electoral alliance with the PML-N, said the party leadership is confident to contest forthcoming elections independently. PML-N Deputy Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said political coalition was a part of democratic process and emergence of a grand political alliance comprising those parties, which are not part of the present collation government, including the PTI, could not be ruled out. He said an alliance before the general elections was necessary to oust the PPP from power.