Pakistan opposition parties form joint parliamentary alliance to challenge govt

Pakistan's opposition parties formed a joint parliamentary alliance on Monday, pledging coordinated legislative action against the government after a three-and-a-half-hour meeting in parliament. Leaders of the opposition in the Senate and National Assembly attended, along with most parliamentarians from JUI-F, PTI, TTAP and MWM.

Which parties joined Pakistan's new opposition alliance?

The alliance brings together JUI-F, PTI, Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen Pakistan and Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen in a joint parliamentary struggle against the government. It marks the first formal parliamentary partnership between JUI-F and PTI, longtime rivals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who have repeatedly clashed politically and electorally.

What is the opposition alliance's shared agenda?

Participants agreed on a shared agenda covering the constitution, the law and order situation, democracy, elections and electoral reforms, and public issues including inflation, terrorism, price hikes, provincial matters and Pakistani-administered Kashmir. Maulana Fazlur Rehman described Monday's meeting as only a first step, leaving open how durable the alliance will prove given the two parties' history.

A JUI-F parliamentarian told Nukta the alliance should have come together earlier, but PTI had pursued a different approach at the time, delaying joint opposition talks. A member of the alliance said it would remain strictly parliamentary in nature, and that JUI-F would not join any street agitation called by PTI. The alliance has asked PTI to join parliamentary standing committees to support legislation, the member said.

What did Fazlur Rehman say about law and order and Kashmir?

At a press conference after the meeting, Rehman said the law and order situation in the country was the worst it had been, and criticized moves to create new provinces or administrative units at this time, saying it would deepen distrust. He said all parties at the meeting agreed this was not the time to break up provinces or form new administrative units. Rehman said residents of Pakistani-administered Kashmir had been holding a sit-in for three weeks and accused the government of rigging elections there, and he called for the release of political prisoners, describing Monday's meeting as a first step by the joint opposition.

What did other opposition leaders say about the alliance?

Leader of the opposition in the Senate, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, called the alliance a good omen for Pakistan, saying protection of life, property and honor was the government's foremost responsibility. He said the government was fostering hostility over Kashmir and had failed to implement a Supreme Court order to shift former prime minister Imran Khan to Shifa International Hospital. PTI chairman Barrister Gohar said all parties in the alliance would now pursue legislation together.

Earlier Monday, PTI's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa president and MNA Junaid Akbar told Nukta the party hoped Rehman's support would help it also secure backing from the PPP, saying PTI and PPP would have to trust each other because the matters at hand concerned the country's betterment rather than politics.

Why were the Senate and National Assembly sessions adjourned?

Separately, the sessions of the Senate and National Assembly were adjourned after quorum was pointed out. PTI's parliamentary leader in the Senate, Ali Zafar, had sought to move a resolution calling for implementation of the Supreme Court order on shifting Khan to Shifa International Hospital but was unable to do so before adjournment.

Zafar told Nukta that JUI-F was supporting the resolution and that a JUI-F leader had already signed it, adding that he would also seek support from the PPP. A senior PPP leader told Nukta, speaking on condition of anonymity, that the party would not support any resolution on the matter in the Senate because it remains sub judice, though PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari supported medical treatment for all prisoners, including Khan, in principle. Zafar said he plans to move the resolution on Tuesday, when the Senate session resumes at 11:00 am.