The fate of the All Parties Conference (APC) is all but in tatters. Now that the top leadership of the two main opposition parties have decided to make a no-show. As expected, the PMLN took the lead in this regard; with the PPP following suit. And with both joining hands to back Leader of the Opposition Shehbaz Sharif for the post of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman the intended message is that this is a two-party show.
Thus for all intents and purposes, the anti-government alliance is back on. For with Nawaz more or less out of the picture by his own volition, it is the younger Sharif alone who is still very much in the game and who has everything to play for. In short, he has the potential to be the proverbial thorn in the government’s side; National Accountability Bureau (NAB) proceedings notwithstanding. Yet even here, he enjoys an advantage over PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari who has shown himself willing to do whatever it takes to save his own skin. For the PMLN president is facing due process just like his brother before him. Thereby suggesting that Shehbaz is rather prudently viewing the next five years as a prolonged election campaign; albeit one without the hassle of hitting the road while trying to pull the largest crowds. And beyond the histrionics of threatening to quit politics forever and ever in the event that Imran Khan is able to prove that his party had requested an NRO — he appears to be taking this new mandate very seriously. As far as the question of the PAC chairmanship goes, Shehbaz has the Centre where he more or less wants it. For the PTI remains divided on this front. Indeed, some cabinet members want to buck parliamentary tradition whereby the post is offered to the Opposition leader in the interest of fairness; preferring to keep this in-party.
If this were to happen, it would be a gross misstep. And it would be one that speaks of pettiness and vindictive politics. That being said, Prime Minister Khan’s ‘third way’ is not much better. For he has remonstrated against the younger Sharif or indeed any close party aides assuming the position.
Thereby painting an image of a political set-up that is so terribly insecure that it is unwilling to let Parliament run its course. All of which plays nicely into PMLN hands. Indeed, the only potential spanner in the works is Zardari’s continued flip-flopping. For the former President has gone — in a matter of mere days — from warning the Centre that it would be no mean feat to bring down the PTI government. To pledging to support it over the next five years; in the national interest.
