LAHORE: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman failed to convince Nawaz Sharif, the three times former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo, to personally attend the All Parties Conference (APC) organized by the opposition parties.
The PML-N will now be represented in the APC by its delegation headed by party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq.
The MMA chief met Sharif on Sunday to muster his support for a possible joint opposition alliance against the ruling Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Government.
Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, Zahid Hamid and Rana Tanveer from PML-N and MMA leader Akram Durrani were also in attendance.
The meeting between the two leaders lasted for two hours but Fazl failed to get his desired results and left the venue by using the back door of Sharif’s Jati Umra estate without talking to the media waiting for him at the gate. The participants of the meeting discussed at length the country’s political scenario.
The MMA chief has become increasingly active in forming a united opposition front against the government. He also met with Asif Ali Zardari, former president of Pakistan and the co-chairman of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which is the second largest party in the country and the ruling political force in Sindh province.
The PPP holds the maximum number of seats in the National Assembly — after the ruling PTI — leaving behind the biggest opposition party, PML-N.
Sharif cannot hold any office after his conviction by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in graft cases, but he heads the PML-N as its “leader for life.” He is also the de facto chief of the party and influences every decision taken in-house.
Rehman’s political activism aims to get major opposition parties under one banner to dislodge the PTI Government, which he claims was formed as a result of rigged elections.
He has convened an APC in this regard and requested Zardari’s personal presence at the moot.
Zardari has also expedited his political activities after slamming the government for its incompetence and inability to govern the country. He called upon opposition parties to table a resolution against the government.
Political analysts believe Sharif is reluctant to launch an aggressive move against the incumbent government as it will provide an excuse to the sitting elite for their failure to provide relief for the masses.
“The PML-N is of the view that with every passing day, the incompetence of the government in meeting the challenges of the day is being exposed. Nawaz Sharif is of the opinion that the movement against the government at this point will benefit the PTI,” Salman Ghani, senior political analyst and confidant of the Sharif family, told Arab News.
“PML-N is not ready to sit with the PPP as according to them, the later is launching the movement to save its own leadership from the course of law,” he added.
Another group of political analysts believes the Sharif family is avoiding entering into confrontation with any state institution at the moment, although their silence has irked their supporters.
“Nawaz Shaif’s refusal to attend the APC summoned by the opposition raises several questions. Why is Nawaz Sharif keeping mum on important developments in the country?” asked Salim Bokhari, editor of daily The Nation.