PPP welcomes opposition alliance's invite to multiparty conference, leaves decision to Bilawal

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Tuesday welcomed an invitation from the opposition alliance to a multiparty conference, saying it would pass the invite to party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari to decide.

A delegation of the Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayin-i-Pakistan (TTAP), led by Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, met PPP Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari at the party’s Central Secretariat in Islamabad to deliver the invitation formally, Dawn reported.

The delegation also included Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, Senator Zeeshan Akhunzada and the alliance’s spokesperson, Akhunzada Hussain Yousafzai.

Bukhari said the PPP valued “engagement and consultation with political parties on constitutional and democratic matters”, and that the invitation would be forwarded to Bilawal for consideration.

What the conference is about

The multiparty conference is planned for after the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s (PTI) protest on October 4, which is being held to demand the release of Imran Khan. According to the report, Tuesday’s meeting touched on:

• the law and order situation
• the economy and inflation
• lawlessness
• the issue of creating new provinces

Who is invited, and who is not

The alliance plans to invite the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, the Awami National Party and the Jamaat-i-Islami. The ruling PML-N and its ally, the MQM-P, will not be invited.

Why the PPP’s answer matters

The PPP has backed the PML-N-led federal government in parliament and governs Sindh, so an invitation from the opposition is significant. Relations between the PPP and the PML-N have been strained recently by disputes over the elections in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, Dawn reported. The PPP has also opposed dividing provinces without a consensus in parliament, an issue that is on the opposition’s agenda.

Whether Bilawal accepts, sends a representative or turns the invitation down will be read as a signal of where the PPP stands between the government and the opposition.

Bilawal steps up consultations

The invitation comes as Bilawal steps up his political engagement after returning from abroad. At Bilawal House in Karachi, he has held a series of meetings, Dawn reported:

• Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, PPP MNA, on the political situation
• Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA, on parliamentary legislation
• Sharjeel Memon, Sindh’s senior minister, who briefed him on public transport projects
• Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, the local government minister, on his department’s performance
• Syed Zairak Shah, a PPP leader from Sukkur, on politics in Sukkur and Pano Aqil

Before returning to Karachi, Bilawal met PPP Punjab president and former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and the party’s Azad Jammu and Kashmir president, Chaudhry Yasin, in Islamabad. Party leaders said the back-to-back meetings showed the chairman was engaging with party leaders at every level on a range of governance issues.

What’s next

All eyes are now on the PTI’s October 4 protest and on Bilawal’s reply. If the PPP joins the conference, it would bring together some of the country’s largest parties outside the ruling PML-N on questions from the economy to new provinces.

This article draws on reporting by Dawn.