Sharif in trouble as Opposition unites

Lahore: The woes of the Nawaz Sharif Government is unlikely to end soon. Just days after Opposition leader, Imran Khan, promised a massive anti-government rally to push for fresh elections, many other political forces join hands to overthrow the current government. Meanwhile, Tahirul Qadri, a populist cleric, threatened to march on the Pakistani capital once again.

Tahir-ul-Qadri has been claiming to bring about the rule of democracy and ‘INQALAB’ in the country. Previously, Qadri commanded tens of thousands of followers and held a disruptive four-day sit-in protest against the government in 2013, months ahead of the election that saw Sharif sweep to power.

Over recent events; where he landed in Pakistan and was diverted to Lahore, to the attacks on his residence and party office, he alleges that more than thousands have been harmed and killed and many of his followers have been arrested by police in a campaign of intimidation, leaving him with no choice but to revolt if it continues. 

A statement released by his Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) cited Qadri as saying: “If the government continues with the arrests of PAT workers or tries to arrest me, we will have no option left (but) to immediately announce a call for the revolution.”

Authorities have so far denied that any arrests have been made. But clashes between Qadri supporters and police in June left 14 activists dead, and many police officials dead and injured too.

Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar said, “All the political parties of the country except two or three are united to defend the Parliament, Constitution and democracy”. The government is holding talks with political parties in this regard, he said and added, “All political parties in the parliament have consensus in not letting democracy get derailed in any case.”

The finance minister further said, “The government is fighting a war against the Taliban on one side and facing a ‘drama’ from the two or three political parties on the other side”.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, urged PTI chief to cancel long march for the sake of national unity, negotiate with government on its demands, including opening up of 10 NA constituencies for recounting.

The PM used the occasion of the All Party conference to indirectly criticize Dr TahirulQadri’s latest political overtures, declaring he had no space for elements talking about ‘revolution’ if they want to “bring it through anarchy” “What type of revolution they want to bring about? Whose revolution is this?” the premier questioned.  “The country cannot afford confrontational politics at this juncture. The opposition should not adopt the confrontational path. We are ready to sit with the opposition and resolve the differences,” the PM stated. 

The prime minister said it was time to leave behind negative politics of the past and join hands for the progress and prosperity of Pakistan. He recalled his meetings with political leaders and said they all assured that they would support the system and democracy. “Any political party that needs to survive must learn how to work together,” he said.

Protest marches have played a key role in Pakistan’s political history, most recently in 2009 when Sharif and lawyers held a so-called ‘long march’ to restore controversially sacked judges. Slain former premier Benazir Bhutto led a similar march with hundreds of thousands of supporters in 1993 which contributed to the removal of Sharif’s first government. So history wait to be repeated, or countered at this point in time.