A joint opposition meeting took place, but no concrete decisions were made. According to the details, the meeting in Islamabad included Maulana Fazlur Rehman, a delegation from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) comprising Asad Qaiser and Omar Ayub, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Muhammad Ali Durrani, a delegation from Jamaat-e-Islami, and other opposition parties. However, nothing was decided.
The opposition alliance has not yet been formally structured, and no framework has emerged. Everyone gathered and then dispersed.
We have seen opposition alliances form and dissolve in the past. Such alliances are typically formed to mount a joint struggle against the incumbent government. This struggle can take two forms: if opposition parties hold a significant number of seats in Parliament, they unite to challenge the government within Parliament. If they do not have substantial representation in Parliament, they engage in collective action outside Parliament, such as rallies, demonstrations, and marches. However, there is no agreement yet on whether the struggle will be inside or outside Parliament.
It is true that PTI is currently the largest party in Parliament. However, for an opposition alliance to succeed, the major party often has to make sacrifices. It has to downplay its own role to bring smaller parties together and give them a more prominent role. The example of PDM is evident, where the major party was PML-N, the second-largest was PPP, but leadership was with Maulana. The current opposition alliance has yet to establish any such form.
PTI has unilaterally appointed Mahmood Khan Achakzai as the head of the opposition alliance. However, Jamaat-e-Islami and Maulana’s party do not find him acceptable. Achakzai is considered a controversial figure and not acceptable to everyone. For an opposition alliance to work, its leader must be acceptable to all. Achakzai does not meet these criteria, and this might be the biggest obstacle to forming the alliance.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman understands that while PTI is the largest party in Parliament, it has lost its street power, a fundamental aspect of opposition politics. The situation is such that PTI alone is not in a position to organize significant protests or rallies. While it could be argued that they do not get permission, my stance is that opposition politics should not be dependent on government approval. Maulana realizes that if they join forces with PTI for protests, it might fulfill the founder of PTI’s desire for activism.
Combining Maulana’s street power with PTI’s might boost the morale of PTI workers. However, Maulana is not willing to lend his street power to PTI. Similarly, Jamaat-e-Islami believes that despite organizing a significant protest over electricity bills, no other party supported their demonstration. They feel that while everyone talks about inflation, no one supported them on the electricity issue. Since they have already organized their protest alone, they prefer to continue their separate movements. Jamaat-e-Islami is also not inclined towards a joint struggle at this time.
They also argue that while PTI talks a lot about its needs, it shows no concern for others’ needs. Asad Qaiser did not attend Jamaat-e-Islami’s protest. Therefore, despite the first meeting of opposition parties inside and outside Parliament, nothing was decided regarding a joint struggle. I believe that by appointing Achakzai as the head of the opposition alliance, PTI is attempting to undermine the leadership of other parties. Maulana is not ready to work under his leadership. PTI is currently neither in a position to remove Achakzai nor to retain him.
The question now is whether this opposition alliance will materialize. It seems very difficult due to a lack of trust. PTI will undoubtedly be the largest party in the alliance, but there is no trust in PTI itself. No one can predict what decision the founder of PTI will make. No one is ready to guarantee whether they will break the alliance. Although there is a ceasefire between Maulana and PTI, there is no solid friendship yet. If Maulana and PTI are to contest against each other in future elections, what is the point of forming an alliance now? Will PTI be willing to give Maulana political space in KP?
It is difficult to imagine a scenario where Maulana and PTI conduct joint protests at the center, while Maulana remains in the opposition in KP. First, Maulana would have to join the KP government before any joint movement could be discussed. KP’s Gunda Pour is not ready to give Maulana political space. Jamaat-e-Islami feels that alliance politics have harmed them in the past, and they are reluctant to form any new alliances. They believe that if PTI wanted to form an alliance, they should have done it before the elections. Since they were not even ready to adjust seats then, why discuss alliances now? Everyone should pursue their own agendas. It seems likely that such meetings will end after a few more sessions. It is difficult to envision them all working together on a single stage.