ISLAMABAD: The widely discussed faultline in the grand opposition alliance cracked further on Monday as three candidates, two from the opposition and one from the ruling coalition, submitted their nomination papers for presidential elections on Sept. 4. 
The opposition’s failure to reach consensus on a single candidate has strengthened the ruling coalition in electing its desired nominee Dr. Arif Alvi — a dentist by profession and co-founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). 
Alvi submitted his documents to Islamabad High Court (IHC) for scrutiny by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). He requested that the opposition withdraw its candidates, confident of winning the election.     
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) pitched senior supreme court advocate and veteran lawmaker Aitzaz Ahsan — a well-respected, seasoned politician — as its nominee after the joint opposition failed to agree on a single candidate. 
Ahsan submitted his documents in Islamabad to the presiding officer at IHC amid heavy criticism from the opposition alliance.
Opposition leader Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo slammed the PPP, accusing it of damaging the 11-party opposition alliance.  
Former Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who is also the acting secretary-general of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), said: “Aitzaz Ahsan was nominated (unilaterally by PPP) without taking parties of the (opposition) alliance into its confidence.” PPP’s Ahsan rejected the claim when speaking to reporters.
Iqbal hoped that PPP would drop Ahsan and support the joint opposition’s presidential candidate Maulana Fazlur Rehman, president of the five religious party alliance of Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and chief of his own party, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazlur Rehman (JUI-F), who has been elected several times as a member of Pakistan’s National Assembly since the late-1980s. 
The five-year term of incumbent President Mamnoon Hussain, who assumed the ceremonial position in 2013, is set to expire on Sept. 9. 
“PPP is masquerading as the opposition however it’s the opposition within the opposition,” political analyst Lt. Gen. (retired) Talaat Masood told Arab News.
PPP previously dealt a severe blow to the joint opposition by abstaining from voting for PML-N candidate Shehbaz Sahrif for the post of prime minister earlier this month.
Masood said: “PPP is delusional if it thinks that by covertly supporting the ruling coalition and weakening the opposition to make the military and judiciary happy, if that’s what both allegedly want, it will make corruption cases against (Asif Ali) Zardari and his sister go away.”
“This move will prove damaging in every way,” Masood said.