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SOME game is afoot. What precisely it is, is difficult to say. Islamabad hums with rumours, half-truths and speculation. Meanwhile, a Supreme Court order to shift the ailing former prime minister Imran Khan from prison to hospital has further unsettled the political sphere.
Suddenly, every move is being dissected. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has chosen this opportunity to make good on his “tick tock, tick tock” threat to the PML-N, delivered earlier this month amidst a thorny general election in Azad Kashmir. His anger over poll irregularities appears to have brought him closer to the opposition benches.
A senior delegation of PPP leaders, including Mr Bhutto-Zardari himself, met the opposition leader in the National Assembly this Tuesday, ostensibly to seek ‘cooperation’ during parliamentary proceedings. The fruits of that meeting were evident in the NA session held the same day, when the PPP managed to compel the government to virtually suspend its legislative agenda.
A follow-up meeting between the PPP and opposition leaders on Wednesday was described as “a good start”, with the politicians agreeing to maintain contact and cooperate on legislative matters in parliament. A common agenda item was also agreed to, namely, reforms to the electoral process. Mr Bhutto-Zardari also chose the opportunity to ‘welcome’ the Supreme Court decision to move Mr Khan to hospital, describing it as “within the democratic tradition”.
