AFTER months of hiatus, triggering all sorts of rumours and wild conjectures about relevance and future of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the leadership of the Opposition Alliance gathered in Islamabad on Wednesday to consider issues that matter much for politics of the country and problems of the masses and took the right decision to play their constitutional role in the prevailing circumstances.
Signalling its intention to put focus away from the politics of confrontation, the alliance vowed to divert its energies to ensure fair, impartial and transparent elections in the country.
The outcome of the PDM meeting augurs well for political calm, stability and continuity especially in the backdrop of fresh rumours about consultations between the two major political parties — PPP and PML (N) — on possibility of joining hands to bring about an in-house change, which is also a constitutional path as the opposition can try its luck and the Government would be entitled to defend its position.
In fact, the inability of the Opposition to garner support and muster strength for its original plans of long march and sit-in till toppling of the Government has enabled the ruling party to launch different welfare programmes and projects.
The Government is now free to fulfil its agenda with ease and peace of mind as the masses would make a choice in the next elections on the basis of performance and delivery.
It has, however, been observed that encouraged by weaknesses in the ranks of the Opposition, the Government is not feeling obliged to care much about the plight of the people, which is also evident from the latest remarks made by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who retorted that if the people were facing economic problems how record sale of motorcycles and cars happened as it showed increase in the purchasing power of the general public.
People are groaning under incessant price-hike, they are forced to compromise on their quality of life and millions more have been pushed below the poverty line during the last three years.
As all politicians and the elected leaders claim to be champions of the causes of the people, the opposition is duty-bound to raise the issue of sky-rocketing inflation and inability of the Government to check it.
The focus on free and fair elections is a positive approach as every stakeholder is entitled to oppose any unilateral plan and make its own proposals to realize this objective but in case of genuinely free and fair elections, people would decide on the basis of who contributed what to their welfare and resolution of their real problems.
