The government and the opposition are sticking to their stated hostile positions, though some recent political developments suggest that the two sides may come down from their maximalist positions – something that raises hopes about the continuity of the system. The last week’s meeting between the incarcerated PML-N president, Shahbaz Sharif, who is a strong proponent of conciliatory politics, and PML-F’s Mohammed Ali Durrani, who is being seen as a representative of the establishment, implies that track-II efforts have been launched in search of a middle ground. Simultaneously, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s name has been taken off the ECL to apparently enable him to see some of his ailing relatives in the US, but there are reports that he will also visit London to meet Nawaz Sharif as part of efforts to find a negotiated settlement of the reigning political deadlock in the country.
However, rather than the track-II diplomacy, Prime Minister Imran Khan is actually pinning his hopes on the probable fault lines within the PDM, an alliance of 11 parties with divergent political ideals and objectives, which is hell bent upon toppling the government through street agitation. In fact, since the September 20 APC that adopted a 26-point PDM charter, a lot has changed within this anti-government alliance in terms of its action plan to dethrone the PM. According to the three-phase agitation plan initially agreed, the combined opposition was to start with public gatherings, six in all, in various cities of the country; followed by street protests and demonstrations against the government in the second phase; and finally a long march on Islamabad to culminate into a sit-in till the government’s ouster from power. En masse resignations from the assemblies were also touted as the final weapon.
However, cracks within the PDM are now pretty visible. As predicted, the PPP is not on board with other PDM member parties on the issue of resignations from assemblies and a sit-in – something that may have compelled Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the PDM head, to stay away from yesterday’s Garhi Khuda Bukhsh rally. Good news for the time being for the PM, who is already under pressure from his allies – an openly disgruntled MQM and an intriguingly quiet PML-Q.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2277640/track-ii-efforts
Track-II efforts: edit in The Express Tribune, Dec 28, 2020
The government and the opposition are sticking to their stated hostile positions, though some recent political developments suggest that the two sides may come down from their maximalist positions – something that raises hopes about the continuity of the system. The last week’s meeting between the incarcerated PML-N president, Shahbaz Sharif, who is a strong proponent of conciliatory politics, and PML-F’s Mohammed Ali Durrani, who is being seen as a representative of the establishment, implies that track-II efforts have been launched in search of a middle ground. Simultaneously, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s name has been taken off the ECL to apparently enable him to see some of his ailing relatives in the US, but there are reports that he will also visit London to meet Nawaz Sharif as part of efforts to find a negotiated settlement of the reigning political deadlock in the country.
However, rather than the track-II diplomacy, Prime Minister Imran Khan is actually pinning his hopes on the probable fault lines within the PDM, an alliance of 11 parties with divergent political ideals and objectives, which is hell bent upon toppling the government through street agitation. In fact, since the September 20 APC that adopted a 26-point PDM charter, a lot has changed within this anti-government alliance in terms of its action plan to dethrone the PM. According to the three-phase agitation plan initially agreed, the combined opposition was to start with public gatherings, six in all, in various cities of the country; followed by street protests and demonstrations against the government in the second phase; and finally a long march on Islamabad to culminate into a sit-in till the government’s ouster from power. En masse resignations from the assemblies were also touted as the final weapon.
However, cracks within the PDM are now pretty visible. As predicted, the PPP is not on board with other PDM member parties on the issue of resignations from assemblies and a sit-in – something that may have compelled Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the PDM head, to stay away from yesterday’s Garhi Khuda Bukhsh rally. Good news for the time being for the PM, who is already under pressure from his allies – an openly disgruntled MQM and an intriguingly quiet PML-Q.
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2277640/track-ii-efforts
Published in Pak Media comment and Pakistan