Islamabad(The COW News Digital)Senior politician and former federal minister Muhammad Ali Durrani has claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has changed its political direction and is now likely to focus its opposition on the governments of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), rather than confronting the establishment.
Speaking to the media in Islamabad, Durrani said PTI was expected to campaign in support of the creation of new provinces and administrative units while challenging the federal government and the major political parties currently in power.
Durrani described what he called the “London Plan” as an effort aimed at protecting political interests, claiming that its objective was to safeguard political positions, resources and government authority from public pressure.
He also referred to the ongoing debate over the possible creation of new provinces, saying that no formal bill regarding the division of Sindh had yet been presented. However, he claimed that the PPP had reacted to the discussion and started creating political pressure around the issue.
Durrani said there was support for establishing Bahawalpur and Hazara provinces and challenged opponents to prevent such moves if they were backed through constitutional and political processes.
The former federal minister further argued that PPP and PML-N had lost much of their electoral attraction because of declining voter support. He claimed that the two parties were no longer as appealing to electable candidates as they had been in the past.
According to Durrani, the political situation had changed significantly, with both parties facing questions over their ability to deliver on economic and public policy issues.
He said he had been arguing for around two and a half years that PTI should move away from confrontation and focus on politics. In his view, PTI was not a “war machine” and could gain greater political space by concentrating on opposition politics and public issues.
Durrani claimed that PTI had now understood this strategy and decided to take advantage of the changing political environment. He predicted that the party would no longer make confrontation with the establishment the central focus of its political campaign.
He also argued that PTI leaders had remained politically constrained because of pressure from their voter base, while PPP and PML-N had fewer incentives to offer electable politicians.
Durrani claimed that if the two ruling parties failed to improve the economy and deliver results to the public, their electoral position could weaken further. He further suggested that losing broader political support could make it difficult for them to secure victory in the next general election.
