ISLAMABAD:
The main opposition political parties are preparing to protest against the government over rising inflation on Friday, but they failed to join hands as Tehreek-e-Tahafuz Ayeen-e-Pakistan (TTAP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) announced their separate plans, highlighting the lack of unity among their ranks.
Some parties have openly expressed their lack of confidence in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the main opposition party, and therefore decided to stay away from its call for protest.
Separate protests are planned on inflation and governance issues.
TTAP, whose main alliance includes the PTI, is also focusing on demands related to the incarceration of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and access to medical care.
However, despite overlapping anti-government rhetoric and shared criticism of governance and economic conditions, efforts toward a common opposition protest front appear unlikely, revealing the lingering distrust and fragmentation within the opposition camp.
The latest call to protest came from TTAP, which announced nationwide protests on May 22 following a late-night alliance meeting attended by PTI leaders and allied opposition figures on Monday.
The announcement comes after Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai warned that the opposition would intensify its response if meetings with Imran Khan and demands regarding his medical treatment were not facilitated.
Separately, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman had already announced protests against inflation and economic conditions during a rally in Karachi on May 15, while JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman also filed a constitutional petition on Tuesday against rising fuel prices and taxes and announced a nationwide protest movement against inflation from May 22.
Despite the convergence of protest schedules, senior leaders of the JUI-F and JI have indicated that they do not plan to participate in a joint protest led by forces backed by the TTAP or PTI.
Kamran Murtaza, a senior JUI-F leader, said it was better for each party to lead its own protest, explaining that the JUI-F still had “trust issues” with the PTI.
He said that in past political engagements, including cooperation on constitutional issues such as the 26th Amendment, his party had participated in joint processes, done everything the PTI asked of them, but later felt unfairly blamed after the conclusion of these developments.
He suggested that similar concerns persisted in subsequent developments, contributing to continued distrust between the two parties despite overlapping opposition positions towards the government.
JI Pakistan deputy chief Liaquat Baloch also ruled out the possibility of a joint protest platform, saying each political party had the right to mobilize from its own platform.
Responding to questions on the absence of a common opposition platform, PTI Sindh provincial president Haleem Adil Sheikh argued that political parties should at least unite on public issues such as inflation and governance, regardless of broader political disagreements.
He said TTAP had already tried to establish broader coordination on economic issues and that Achakzai had previously conveyed to Fazl in a meeting that while the parties might differ on other policy issues, they should at least make a joint announcement on the issue of inflation.
