ISLAMABAD: PPP chairman, Balawal Bhutto, on Friday ditched PMLN supremo, saying “ Nawaz Sharif’s naming the head of the military institution while addressing to Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Gujranwala was his personal decision, which shocked him instantly.
In his interview with BBC URDU ,Balawal Bhutto came out with what could be termed as a first step towards distancing of PPP from Nawaz Sharif’s narrative of openly blaming the military leadership of stealing the last general elections 2018 and meddling in the national politics.
The PPP chairman told the interviewer “Nawaz Sharif’s publically naming of the military leadership from PDM platform was in violation of code of conduct reached among the parties of the alliance. Bhutto said there was consensus among all PDM parties to use the word |Establishment” and not name any institution and he was shocked to hear names of the military leadership from Nawaz Sharif when he addressed Gujranwala public rally on October 16, 2020”.
The PDM had held first public rally last month in Gujranwala ,which was addressed by Nawaz Sharif from London via Skype. The PMLN supremo had publically lashed out at the military leadership mentioning some names, in particular, accusing it of stealing PMLN mandate in the last general elections.
“Soon after the elections 2018, Nawaz Sharif had launched a vicious campaign against the state organs, in particular, the military and as a part of it held the military leadership responsible of his ouster from power. He, in fact, took- up an agenda of maligning the military to appease anti- Pakistan forces” , Qamar Cheema, a political analyst said while commenting on Balawal Bhutto’s interview.
The PPP chairman referred Nawaz Sharif’s address to PDM rally in Gujranwala in his interview and said PMLN supromo should share with him the evidence of what he is claiming in his recent speeches. He expressed hope PMLN supremo will come- up to give him evidence of the military leadership’s role in the last general elections.
Balawal Bhutto also spoke on all important issues confronted with Pakistan currently like civil-military relationship, performance of Imran Khan’s government in its first two and half years and future of the opposition’s campaign to dis-install the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
Balawal told the interviewer that PPP never supported PDM for removal of the military leadership.
He said “It’s not the PPP approach to target the state organs rather it wants every institution of the state to take its due role and act as per role given by the constitution of Pakistan to take this country forward”.
Balawal Bhutto’s interview is indicative of a clear difference of approach between PPP and PMLN. It also shows PMLN misused PDM platform to push forward its agenda of targeting the state institutions like the military and judiciary.
The same different approach compelled PPP leadership to refuse to entertain PMLN supremo to address Karachi rally held on October 18 2020 with a gap of two days from Gujranawala rally. Although JUIF chief, Maulana Fazalur Rehman, vehemently denied PMLN supremo was barred from addressing Karachi rally, but Balawal Bhutto’s interview to BBC URDU narrates the real story. It confirms PPP was not happy over Nawaz Sharif’s speech at Gujranwala rally and did not want him to use its home ground (Karachi) for his similar rant.
Balawal Bhtto’s interview has created a storm in Pakistan’s politics and it has also cleared much of dust making the political scene of Pakistan clear to some extent. It has also exposed Nawaz Sharif and his narrative to the public at large.
PMLN seems visibly disturbed over Balawal Bhutto’s interview and logically it should be. Its leaders such as Ahsin Iqbal, Maryam Aurangzeb, Zubair Omar and many others found it difficult to defend the party line in the aftermath of Balawal Bhutto’s interview. The PPP’s second tier leadership too looked busy on local media for giving backgrounders which led to Balawal Bhutto’s stormy interview.
It’s difficult to assess the real impact of Balawal Bhutto’s interview on the national politics, but one thing is crystal clear that PPP is distancing from Nawaz Sharif and it’s going to draw new lines in Pakistan’s politics in coming weeks and months. The new situation is also going to decide fate of PDM very soon.