The opposition has exhausted all forms of peaceful protest to force the government to resign and the establishment to reduce its role in national politics but failed to achieve the twin objectives. During most of the period over-optimistic hawks have dominated the opposition’s ranks. JUI(F) chief Fazlur Rehman wanted the opposition to immediately resign, calling the 2018 elections into question. This was however rejected at the time by other opposition parties. After realising that its protest rallies had failed to force the government to quit, the opposition decided to hold a countrywide march that was to converge on Islamabad. The insistence by the PML(N) and some other PDM components on resignations by all opposition parties from assemblies prior to the march created a rift in the PDM which still persists.
This has led some of the opposition parties to review the strategy of all-out confrontation with the government and the establishment. What PDM chief Fazlur Rehman said at a press conference on Tuesday indicates that while the offensive against the PTI government will be further escalated, there is desire now to enter into a dialogue with the establishment aimed at jointly removing the anomalies in the system, making it more democratic.
There is a perception among some of the opposition leaders that the establishment is getting fed up with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government on account of it failures in important spheres, particularly the economy, ineptitude in handling the bureaucracy, rigidness and bad governance.
Maulana Fazal has made an offer to the establishment to jointly rectify shortcomings in the system. As he has put it, “If we are bound to do politics under oath, then they [establishment] are bound not to do politics under the same oath.”
Over the last several decades, the establishment has encroached upon large areas of the civilian governments’ turf. It now takes major policy decisions but expects the civilian administrations to take responsibility for its unpopular measures and policy failures. The establishment may turn neutral for a while to put the government supported by it in its place, as happened in the recent by-elections. This may not mean that it is willing to accept the elected government’s right to a final say in policy matters, particularly when the opposition parties remain disunited.
