By making pressure group: Usman Buzdar diminishes chances of his removal

It is obvious that in case these 20 MPAs abstain from voting if a new CM is to be elected, the rival candidate would win — a huge shock for the PTI that can overwhelm Imran Khan’s premiership also

By Haider Naqvi
January 23, 2020

ISLAMABAD: It’s talk of the town that a 20-member pressure group in the Punjab Assembly has actually been made at the behest of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar who, with this move, has almost diminished chances of his removal.

This is how it goes. It is obvious that in case these 20 MPAs abstain from voting if a new CM is to be elected, the rival candidate would win — a huge shock for the PTI that can overwhelm Imran Khan’s premiership also.

It appears that PM Imran Khan is stuck in a deadlock with not only his allies but also his own people, and there is no quick fix to this situation. The PML-Q, meanwhile, has improved its relations with bureaucracy and Moonis Elahi is busy getting his members’ issues resolved with full force. He has also secured control of many Punjab cities including Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin, Chakwal, and Bahawalpur which would benefit them in the local government elections. Now they don’t need chief minister, though their personal relations would remain unaffected and the chief minister would remain the “chief ruler”.

On the other hand, Governor Chaudhry Sarwar is disappointed and at least 15 MPAs are with him, who can play any role anytime. These MPAs are those who were lured into PTI fold from the PML-N by the governor.

In this situation, there is a strong demand by Islamabad office-bearers that if the chief ministership is not for Pervaiz Elahi, Imran Khan should nominate some person capable to run the province after giving him the status of senior minister. He should act as a bridge among the PTI, the PML-Q and bureaucracy. And if there is no such minister with the required capabilities, the PTI should appoint an advisor who understands Punjab politics.

On the other hand, Wednesday’s story made the readers aware of an agreement between PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi and the Punjab chief secretary. According to the agreement, the PML-Q will directly work with the chief secretary. Before this, all orders were from the Punjab chief minister. This reality can be checked by seeing the agreement mentioned above.