In a move that effectively torpedoes the ongoing opposition movement to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan from power, the left-leaning Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) yesterday declared its intention to contest the forthcoming Senate election as well as bye-elections on vacant seats of the national and provincial assemblies.
The decision announced following the party’s Central Executive Committee meeting by chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is a major blow to the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), the leading opposition party, and beleaguered Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam – Fazlur (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman, who is also the head of the 11-party alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) that was formed three months ago amid much fanfare. 
Both Rehman and Maryam Nawaz, daughter of former prime minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, had been trying to convince the electorate that all parties were onboard this time to oust Prime Minister Khan with a series of vocal rallies across the country. 
Only this weekend, Maryam had taken an unprecedented leap of faith to attend and address at the annual PPP homage to slain former prime minister Benazir Bhutto that underscored what seemed like a blossoming bonhomie between two of Pakistan’s arch political rivals.
Regardless of the apparent political bromance, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, who is close to the country’s powerful security establishment, had been betting on a façade he believed former president Asif Zardari, Bilawal’s father, widely considered to be the shrewdest politician in Pakistan, was creating by using the PDM platform to his party’s advantage. 
In yesterday’s news conference, Bilawal appeared to confirm Rashid’s claims that the party would never forfeit its turf for the benefit of the Sharifs or Rehman, in not only declaring the PPP’s intent to stay the course, but also advising the opposition “to fight the (ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) in both the assemblies and out in the street”. 
“We believe that opposition parties can perform better if they jointly contest the Senate elections against the PTI. We will present these suggestions to the PDM leaders in the upcoming meeting and will decide future course of action with consensus.”
However, Bilawal said the PPP leadership had endorsed the PDM’s decision of submitting resignations of lawmakers to the respective party chiefs by December 31.
Responding to a question, the PPP leader declined to reveal when the opposition parties will officially leave the assemblies. “The option of resignation is an ‘atom bomb’ and it’s our prerogative to use them at any time.”
Amid a barrage of questions, Bilawal rhetorically said: “We have set the January 31 deadline for [PM Imran Khan] to resign or else we will force you to go home.”
In his opening remarks, the PPP chairman said the party leadership believed the root cause of prevailing “political crisis” in the country is the establishment’s meddling into political affairs. “We will continue our struggle to stop establishment’s interference into the political matters.”
Speculation had been swirling about the fate of the PDM’s future after it was reported Rehman had been angry that Zardari had bluntly refused to resign from the assemblies and leaving the Sindh government. It appeared to become more pronounced after the PDM chief did not travel to Larkana at the homage to Bilawal’s late mother.
The PPP’s decision to contest elections and remain vague on tendering resignations is especially significant since both Sharif and Rehman were counting on the party to force a change in Islamabad.
The PTI government had derived much confidence following the noticeable failure of the PML-N-led drive to host a mammoth public gathering at the famous Minar-e-Pakistan on December 13. Under pressure before the hype-built around the expected power show, the PTI has since felt emboldened to the extent that this past week, it had been challenging the Sharifs to follow on their threat to resign from the parliament. The PPP’s decision to stay in the ring is seen as a remarkable development in the ongoing saga and likely boon for Khan.