News Analysis |
Albeit the 2018 primary elections did not end up in a hung parliament as the opposition was hoping, a grand opposition alliance is in the making as leaders of four major groups pledge resistance “inside and outside the parliament” on grounds of alleged rigging.
The event will also be expected to finalize the opposition’s candidates for posts of Prime Minister, National Assembly speaker, deputy speaker and opposition leader.
In a meeting at the Islamabad residence of outgoing speaker for National Assembly; Ayaz Sadiq,the party figureheads came to an agreement to deprive Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) and its associates of an open playing field.Needless to say, PTI will be facing a tough time in terms of governance despite winning majorities in provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the National Assembly. Alliances with independent candidates in the Balochistan provincial assembly have also paved the way for a PTI majority in the South West region.
Read more: Third APC in one week: opposition mulling over ways to counter…
Although PTI managed to aggregate the highest number of seats in the National Assembly, the final tally as issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) shows they are still short of a simple majority. The final count saw PTI at 116 general seats – 21 short of a simple majority – whereas the PML-N and PPP grabbed 64 and 43 seats respectively.
In the scramble for securing political majority in Pakistan’s fruit basket; the PML-N held the lead with 127 Punjab assembly seats, whereas PTI is neck to neck at 123 seats. Latest reports mentioned both parties seeking out independent candidates to cement their hold in Punjab. PTI claims it has been joined by 22 independent of which 8 belong to the PML-Q faction.
It comes to no surprise that the opposition parties are all set on denying a smooth transition of power by organizing another All Parties Conference (APC) in Islamabad this Thursday. The event will also be expected to finalize the opposition’s candidates for posts of Prime Minister, National Assembly speaker, deputy speaker and opposition leader.
The APC will include senior leaders of the main opposition parties; Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Awami National Party (ANP).Among the other parties attending the congregation are Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Qaumi Watan Party, Pak Sarzameen Partyand Balochistan National Party-Mengal.