Mehmoodur Rasheed- A Friendly Opposition Leader or What?

Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf was the second largest party to win most number of Punjab assembly seats. After the governments were set up and chief minister and ministers were decided, Mehmoodur Rasheed from PTI was nominated the opposition leader. Since, now the government in Punjab is about to complete its five-year tenure the performance of opposition leader seems to be extremely disappointing. If we compare his performance with opposition leaders in the past, it’s no better in any way proving that he has been at all a friendly opposition leader. 

This became more evident when the opposition leader  held a meeting with CM Punjab to announce the caretaker CM in Punjab. Both the opposition and government agreed on Nasir khosa’s name. But the decision was heavily criticized by PTI members, workers and supporters. Everyone was wondering how the corrupt government of PML-N accepted the name of caretaker CM with such ease. With time, the research by PTI supporters and workers proved that about-to-be caretaker CM Nasir Khosa has been deeply affiliated with CM Shahbaz Shareef, enjoyed the most prestigious posts in Punjab and even was the strong opponent of former PM Nawaz Sharif’s dismissal. 

The caretaker setup is introduced to handle governmental responsibilities and ensure fair elections in the country. But how would you expect fair elections when a caretaker CM has ulterior interests with a certain political party and was the focus of that party’s blessing while he served as a government employee? A number of things have gone wrong and most were on PTI’s side. First, the opposition leader was a poor choice and he should not have been nominated for the opposition leader. If done, the party must have monitored his activities, performance and his role as the opposition leader in the biggest province. PTI failed in all aspects and could have paid heavy cost in the upcoming elections for that had Mr. Nasir Khosa would become the caretaker CM.

Mehmoodur Rasheed was basically a Jamat e Islami political worker and later joined PTI. But his overall performance was equal to a typical JI member. He failed and failed really bad. He was a real disappointment for the PTI supporters and everyone who voted for PTI. He has been actively engaged in corruption and other illegalities. When you are the opposition leader in the biggest province, there are high responsibilities on the shoulders. He could have given tough time to CM Shabaz during the assembly sessions whose tenure in Punjab was marred by corruption cases and irregularities. But sadly, every single of case was closed and people never knew what the reality was. PTI did committed a blunder but recovered from the shock immediately. PTI chairman Imran Khan had a meeting with his party members and was in no way in favor of Nasir Khosa as caretaker CM. 

Mistakes make you learn and PTI is doing that brilliantly, but these mistake need to be avoided. Mehmoodur Rasheed should be arraigned and must be accountable for his role as an opposition leader. Imran Khan without being the opposition leader in NA troubled the ruling party, was behind the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif and a number of other PML-N leaders, did give the government tough time and made them deliver better than the previous setups. The Punjab assembly opposition leader at least must have followed his leader and should not have allowed any  irregularity and corruption case go unnoticed.