LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) believes the opposition is losing ‘very vital space’ under the present circumstances due to the prolonged absence of the opposition leader from the active politics.

“Inflation-hit masses are looking towards the opposition due to the failure of the current government,” says PPP central information secretary Nafisa Shah.

She was referring to opposition leader in National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif’s prolonged stay in London. The PML-N president had gone there in November last year along with former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to take care of the latter during his treatment for various ailments there.

The opposition leader was absent at this critical time of devising a joint strategy vis-à-vis extension of the army chief tenure and individual decisions by various parties gave the [negative] impression as if we had struck any deal on the issue, Ms Shah said at a reception thrown for her by local party leader Ashraf Khan.

Deputy information secretary Munawwar Anjum and coordinator for South Punjab chapter Abdul Qadir Shaheen were also present.

“And that’s why that any effective alliance of the opposition is failing to take effect though the situation demands all parties to be on one page,” she said.

Asked if the amendments to the Army Act suggested by the PPP were withdrawn at the behest of former president Asif Ali Zardari, she indirectly confirmed it by saying: “It was a decision by the leadership.”

Asked if the PPP would support the PML-N’s reported efforts of forming its government replacing the PTI, she said such decisions could be taken only at the opposition’s Rehber Committee forum, which was lying inactive because of the absence of the opposition leader from the national political scene.

Mr Shaheen criticized the PTI government for what he said anti-masses and non-serious policies making lives of the people miserable.

He said that the person who had talked of reforming the state institutions was using the same institutions to suppress political rivals.Meanwhile, the Punjab PPP Information Bureau organized a conference for the party’s social media activists here. Information secretary Syed Hassan Murtaza outlined aims and objectives of the bureau and of its first media conference, attended by over 200 activists.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2020