ISLAMABAD:
Major opposition political parties are gearing up for protests against the government over the rising inflation on Friday but they are unable 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 lack of unity among their ranks.
Some of the parties openly expressed their lack of trust on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the main opposition party, and hence decided to stay away from its protest call.
Separate protests are being planned over inflation and governance issues.
TTAP, whose main alliance includes PTI, is additionally focused on demands related to former prime minister Imran Khan’s incarceration and access to medical treatment.
However, despite overlapping anti-government rhetoric and shared criticism over governance and economic conditions, efforts toward a joint opposition protest front appear unlikely, exposing continuing mistrust and fragmentation within the opposition camp.
The latest protest call came from TTAP, which announced nationwide demonstrations on May 22 following a late-night alliance meeting attended by PTI leaders and allied opposition figures on Monday.
The announcement came 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 over inflation and economic conditions during a rally in Karachi on May 15, while JI chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman has also filed a constitutional petition against rising fuel prices and taxes on Tuesday and announced a nationwide protest movement starting May 22 against inflation.
Despite the convergence of protest timelines, senior leaders from both JUI-F and JI indicated they were not considering participation under a joint protest umbrella led by TTAP or PTI-backed forces.
Senior JUI-F leader Kamran Murtaza said it was better that each party conduct its own protest, explaining that JUI-F still had “trust issues” with PTI.
He said that in past political engagements, including cooperation on constitutional matters such as the 26th Amendment, his party had participated in joint processes, did everything PTI asked them to, but later felt it was unfairly blamed after those developments concluded.
He suggested that similar concerns persisted in later developments as well, contributing to continued mistrust between the two sides despite overlapping opposition positions against the government.
JI Pakistan Deputy Chief Liaquat Baloch also ruled out the possibility of a joint protest platform, saying every political party had the right to mobilise from its own platform.
Responding to questions about the absence of a joint 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 wider political disagreements.
He said TTAP had previously attempted to build broader coordination on economic issues, and that Achakzai had earlier conveyed to Fazl during a meeting that while parties could differ on other political matters, they should at least make a joint announcement on the issue of inflation.
