Cracks appear in opposition after collapse of no-trust motion

ISLAMABAD: The humiliating collapse of the no-confidence resolution against Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani has spawned bad-blood and cracks in the ranks of the loose multi-party opposition alliance instead of reinforcing unity in it and making it a formidable coalition.

The fissures emboldened the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to taunt and boo the opposition parties. The primary objective of the motion was to give a message that the pushed-to-the-wall opposition will not hesitate to embark upon such adventures, but it backfired.

Irked by the unidentified defectors, two major partners – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) -- have started a blame-game although some of their senior leaders are keen on saving the alliance from total disintegration. However, for now the distrust caused by the large scale desertions seems unbridgeable.

The third opposition party--Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F)--which was very keen for the success of the no-trust move, is demoralised and crestfallen. Its chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has not spoken a word on the debacle due to the frustration brought about by the failure of the motion.

“We were pretty sure much before the vote that our four senators would go against the motion,” a prominent PML-N leader told The News on condition of anonymity. He even named them in the off the record talk. But at the same time, he said, the PML-N had no doubt that despite these defections the no-trust motion would be carried because the opposition had a large majority.

However, the PML-N leader said that instead of further fueling disunity the opposition parties should sit together to tide over differences caused by the Senate disaster. In a private discussion, a top PPP stalwart told The News that Bilawal and Shahbaz Sharif were going to take the necessary steps to deter further damage to the relationship that the opposition parties developed over the past few months.

“In my four-decade political career, I haven’t seen such debauchery, perversion and shamelessness that I witnessed in the Senate vote,” he said adding that all the senators who sold their soul and conscience for different considerations attended at least 11 lunches and dinners of the opposition parties where the strategy on no-trust resolution was discussed and finalised. It was amasing to see 14 desertions.

The PPP leader said even after the defeat of the resolution all the senators were barefacedly present in the opposition’s meeting that mulled over the causes and reasons of the fiasco. He was of the view that the message given by the engineered floor-crossing was loud and clear --the victory of the majority is not a natural corollary and the tables can be turned within minutes. Parliament is gone and it’s a very unfortunate spectacle, he felt.

“By design, the five votes were rendered invalid by simultaneously stamping on ‘yes’ and ‘no’ boxes. The pattern was the same and the message was that this was done deliberately and nobody should have any illusion,” he said.

The PPP leader, who has a long experience of working as senator and enjoys an exceptional reputation, said that one doesn’t know that the MPs sharing the benches on one’s right and left on the floor will stand with their parliamentary party when the crunch will come.

However, he said that at no point of time was any PPP senator signaled by any topnotch of the party not to vote for the no-confidence motion. Bilawal, he said, remained present in a Senate gallery during the vote and attended all the meetings of the opposition which deliberated upon the voting on the resolution.

The PPP leader said that undoubtedly the opposition’s detractors would use the defections to create wedge among its component parties. “However, all the opposition forces should move on leaving this misfortune behind; otherwise, every one of them would repent. They have to unite, and there is no other option.”

The major responsibility, he said, is equally on the shoulders of the senior saner elements in the PML-N and PPP. “No single opposition party is in a position to face the prevailing situation as more hard times are round the corner. If they opted independent courses, they would lose whatever they have.”

The PPP leader said that the bond developed and cemented by Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal should not be frittered away. The two leaders should come forward and pull the opposition out of the present difficult circumstances, he suggested. He conceded that there have been differences among the opposition parties, but still they had agreed on a minimum agenda against the government. “This consensus has to be revived.”