Imran Khan solidifies his reputation of being that student in class who makes enormous claims but forgets to cite them. His recent allegation is to claim that Nawaz Sharif “offered bribes worth Rs 94 billion to 163 members of the National Assembly to attend Tuesday’s session and defeat the opposition’s bill”. This is a big allegation that Imran has made, with no proof whatsoever and even if it was true, there would no technical way for him to know the specifics of such a clandestine offer.
Instead of resorting to hearsay and fairy-tales, the opposition should gracefully admit defeat with this non-issue- it missed its chance, mainly because it failed to attend the original session when the amendment was passed. A better strategy for Imran would be to ensure the participation of his members to fare a better chance at getting bills passed, and to take a look at his own attendance record, having one of the lowest attendance records of attending only two meetings.
Even if Imran’s allegations were true, perhaps he should take notes from Nawaz Sharif on how to ensure that members of your party show up. The Senate on Wednesday yet again failed to take up the key constitutional bill for paving the way for holding of delimitation of constituencies due to absence of many lawmakers; from whom, only 3 PTI members were present. The opposition is already at a disadvantage and should work on its members presence to get work done.
It is the most beneficial time for the opposition parties right now, with the ouster of the prime minister and subsequent accountability trials leaving the government in a vulnerable position. However, it seems rather that even with things going in their favour, they will not let the milk curd itself, and grasp at imaginary straws and stones just to have something to throw at the government. While this political sling shooting may not be affecting the government, it sure is causing annoyance for those who are not so affected by the issue of whether Nawaz can be party president or not, since it is an entirely symbolic and perfunctory title.
This issue needs to be quietly put to bed instead of adding a mountain of assertions on top of it - with the Supreme Court taking up the bill and clubbing all 9 petitions, the opposition shouldn’t be too worried – the Elections Bill may still be struck down. After the clerical error fiasco, it is safe to say our parliament has had enough discussions on non-issues.