One day’s delay in holding the PDM leadership’s meeting has given the alliance time to reduce the differences over the next step to be taken after PDM’s debacle in the Senate. The PPP wants to go ahead with a no-confidence move against the NA Speaker. The PML-N wants instead the opposition to resign from the National Assembly and march on Islamabad. The PPP does not possess enough numbers for a credible no-confidence move while the PML-N’s resignations without the support of other allies would turn out to be a damp squib. The situation would test the opposition’s ability to manage its differences and maintain unity in its ranks
The numerous sycophants PM Imran Khan has gathered around him are enough to turn anybody’s head. The sooner Mr Khan manages to overcome the euphoria caused by the confidence vote and the Senate victory, the better for him and the country as there are enough dangers lurking ahead. The government’s inordinate delay in buying the corona vaccine has led to slow progress in vaccination which alone is a safeguard against the Pandemic. The government has thus been led to impose hundreds of smart lockdowns and restrictions on business hours. Numerous enterprises like restaurants, hotels and cinema houses have remained closed with quite a few permanently shut down. The price hike remains beyond the government’s control and is adversely affecting its political image. The policy of maintaining no working relation with the opposition is acting as a lethal factor that could only hasten the government’s end.
Tongues that had gone silent started wagging after PM Imran Khan who had lost majority in the NA managed to get a vote of confidence only days after from the same House. Doubts turned into confirmed opinions when the opposition suddenly lost seven votes to a new kid on the block fighting for a Senate slot. It is understandable that those who prefer to operate incognito would not like to be dragged into politics. But when they leave a trail on the grass, and the aggrieved party is badly hit, it is bound to scream blue murder. It is time for those who matter to consider limiting their role in politics.
