Pakistan Reader# 585, 19 April 2023
Ankit Singh
On 19 April, political parties in the coalition government met to discuss the differences over the modalities of engagement and reconciliation with disgruntled PTI at the PM house. The issue of engagement with PTI has been reckoned since PTI started to disrupt the electoral and legislative operations of provincial and federal governments. The coalition parties agreed on a consensus that the coalition government will complete its term till October.
The latest effort has been initiated by Jamaat-i-Islami termed as ‘consensus offensive’ whereby JI chief held separate meeting with leader of PM Sharif and PTI leader Imran Khan. The JI chief mentioned that both PTI and PDM agreed to continue consultations on a regular basis. However, the differences within coalition partner have been on the modicum of consultations.
Representatives of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) dismissed Imran Khan as a political force and saw him as a liar instead and rejected the idea. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto upheld PPP’s party principles and was in the favour of talks with the opposition party on the issue of national importance. Information Minister and PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb denied any rifts within the coalition and mentioned consultations were in progress within the party. Dawn quoting a source in the MQM-P wrote that the matter of initiating talks with the opposition PTI was very delicate and it should be decided by the heads of all coalition parties.
On 18 April, an editorial published in Dawn mentioned that representatives from any political blocs have been shunned if they are critical or flexible in their approach indicating that the party leaders are not sincere and it creates more harm than good to the democratic practices within parties.
References
(Syed Irfan Raza,“Two camps emerge as coalition mulls talks with PTI,” Dawn, 19 April 2023)
(Syed Irfan Raza,“Mixed signals raise doubts about govt, PTI sincerity for talks,” Dawn, 18 April 2023)