Senator Shibli Faraz, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, has accused the Opposition of deliberately generating chaos in the country. The minister is of the view that these ‘rejected’ parties are challenging the democratically elected government for their ‘vested political interests,’ reported Dawn.
Faraz was addressing the ‘Meet the Press’ program at Peshawar Press Club on Monday. He said that opposition parties were doing nothing for the welfare of the nation but trying to blackmail the government on the FATF legislation through their failed shows.
The minister said that opposition parties were trying to divert the attention of people from the corrupt practices of their leaders by exploiting price hike in the country. He said that the government would not allow anyone to play with the interests of the country.
Opposition intends to disrupt the political process?
The Opposition parties are also accused of defaming the armed forces and dragging them into political matters. Analysts are of the view the recent speeches of some opposition leaders had the potential to disrupt the political process in Pakistan.
Nawaz Sharif, former prime minister of Pakistan, addressed a rally of the opposition parties from London on October 16. In his speech, Nawaz named the army chief and DG ISI for ‘stealing the public mandate’ and ‘installing an incompetent government’. The PML-N supremo also demanded answers from the COAS for ‘failing this nation’. “This incompetent government has made lives of the masses miserable,” he said.
He also blamed the COAS and DG ISI for ousting him through ‘controlling and dictating the courts’. Notably, it is not for the first time that Nawaz slammed the security establishment for ‘political engineering’. On September 20, he claimed that then DG ISI approached him and asked him to step-down.
However, former DG ISI, retired Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam, has said he never asked for the resignation of former premier and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in 2014. “I never sent anyone to convey any such message to [Nawaz], this is absolutely wrong,” he said while speaking to The News.
Nawaz’s received mixed reactions. Prominent anchorperson Rauf Klasra revealed that “I spoke with some senior PML-N leaders and they are shocked to watch Nawaz vilifying the army”.
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Some sources claim that the Opposition wants to dislodge the incumbent government for its own political interests. “Nawaz and Zardari do not want Imran Khan to stay in the office. They can pay any price for it,” a reliable source told GVS.
Why Sharifs and Bhuttos can’t topple IK’s government?
Political analysts and experts are now deliberating over an intriguing question; can the opposition topple PM Khan’s government? Hasan Askari Rizvi, a political analyst who served as a senior official during the 2018 polls, said during a talk-show on Dunya TV that “the movement will likely involve more rhetoric than action”. Dr. Rizvi was of the view that the opposition parties won’t be able to stay united as many of them have “competing and contradictory interests”.
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There is also an opinion that the opposition is likely to fail due to an obvious that it has no anti-government plan. “The opposition will not be able to sell out its narrative. Khan’s government has a success story when it comes to Foreign Relations, it has an exemplary performance when it comes to defeating COVID-19, and Khan’s speeches at the UN made him a hero,” a senior bureaucrat told GVS. The officer was of the view that the opposition could set the agenda on high inflation but that is insufficient to shape an anti-government narrative when the current government seems to have done more than its capacity.