How did the opposition perform in 100-days?

Prime Minister Imran Khan has luck on his side.

In his first 100-days in power, he hardly faced any political opposition. Keeping true to his image of a fast bowler, Khan has managed to put the opposition on the defensive, and even then he continues to keep the pressure high on his rivals.

Judging the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s first three months has the political landscaped divided. Some commend it. Others slate it, for falling short on its promises. But no matter how you look at it, there can be no two opinions about the disastrous performance of the opposition parties, who could not mount a single serious challenge to the new government.

That said, in the parliament, though, the opposition performed far better than the government. For starters, the prime minister promised us a “Question Hour” every fortnightly, which could not be initiated in 100 days. Apart from that the government could not table a major law or make amendments to existing ones in this time period. Meanwhile, the Senate chairman was forced to ban the PTI’s Information Minister from the upper house after his provocative comments.

Interestingly, the only real opposition the PTI faced was from the right-wing Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), whose vote bank played a decisive role in the defeat of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) in Punjab and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) in Karachi. Last week, the TLP leadership was rounded up and taken into custody ahead of a planned protest. Separately, the Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on whether the party should face a permanent ban from politics.

So for now, the field is clear.

Unto to the next 100-days, or five years, it seems that the PTI and Imran Khan have a clear direction, which could spell bad news for the opposition alliance. The two major political parties, the PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have its top leadership embroiled in legal and accountability battles. This means that the PTI is likely to win the local government polls in Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Punjab and even Karachi in Sindh, without much resistance. And if that happens, the opposition will not have any counter plans.

From the day former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called himself a 'nazariyati' he has refrained from talking to the media. His and his daughter’s mysterious silence is raising many questions regarding the future political discourse of the Sharifs. A decision on the two other references against Nawaz Sharif is expected within a week or maximum two weeks. What, one wonders, will the three-time former premier do in case he loses the legal battle?

There is also uncertainty regarding the future of Maryam Nawaz Sharif, who prior to the death of her mother was being viewed as the heir-apparent of the PML-N and had adopted a very vocal and aggressive style of doing politics. She too awaits a final verdict on her appeal against imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother and the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, and his son, Hamza Shehbaz, are being probed by the anti-corruption authority.

With that backdrop, how has the PML-N fared in the last 100 days? Surprisingly, even with the top leadership missing from the main picture, it did not perform badly in the national elections, especially in Punjab, and later the by-polls. But it appears that the Sharif family may have given up.

While the party is very much intact even after the setback in Balochistan and the Senate election, the second tier leadership of the PML-N are more active now compared to the first tier. But they too are careful to avoid any agitation due to fear of inquiries being initiated against them.

Also, within the PML-N there is this thinking that the party can not do much after the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif and imprisoned Maryam Nawaz Sharif and her husband. In addition, it is disappointed with the former finance minister, Ishaq Dar, who did not show courage like Nawaz Sharif and returned to the country to face charges against him.

So far, the PML-N has proved to be a soft opposition to the PTI. It appears that this “wait and see” policy may continue till the next local bodies elections.

Nawaz Sharif tested the party’s street agitation power twice: once, prior to the election when he took to the Grand Trunk road, and second, when he expected his party workers to reach the Lahore airport on his return from London. On both times, the response was lacklustre.

Over to the PPP. Its leader, Asif Ali Zardari, strongly believes that if Sharif had not done what he did with his ‘friends’ through the Karachi operation, under Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, he would not be in this situation. As revenge, the PPP leader played a silent role in ensuring the fall of the PML-N government in Balochistan and then brought a PTI-backed chairman in the Senate. He even sacrificed his own party member, Raza Rabbani, who could have been elected unopposed in the upper house.

Undeterred, Maulana Fazlur Rehman tried to build a Grand Opposition Alliance with both Zardari and Sharif. But he could not break through the deadlock.

The opposition parties then made another attempt, when they scheduled a protest outside the Election Commission of Pakistan’s office. But neither Shehbaz Sharif nor Bilawal Bhutto Zardari turned up.

As for the alliance of religious parties, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), which held three public meetings against the government, too remains divided. Differences between the Jamaat-e-Islami and Rehman’s party over what strategy to adopt, could not be resolved. Thus, the key leaders of the JI, Siraj ul Haq and Liaquat Baloch, did not attend the Karachi rally.

Overall, the first quarter certainly belongs to the PTI, as the opposition stood divided. I doubt that the government would face any serious challenges in the next quarter as well unless they commit some glaring mistakes or take several U-turns, which they are quite capable of doing.

Abbas is a senior columnist and analyst of GEO, The News and Jang. He tweets @MazharAbbasGEO

Note: The views expressed in the article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Geo News or the Jang Group.