PTI mulls coup against PPP’s Khursheed Shah

Party may move to take over leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.

ISLAMABAD:

Whether they like it or not, the destiny of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) seems perpetually linked to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).

Sindh’s leading urban party spent the last five years being the difference between the PPP-led government and a lost majority. And now, the PPP would need MQM’s support once again – this time to hold on to the office of the Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly in the face of a new contender: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Imran Khan’s party may have fallen well short of forming the government, finishing third in terms of seats, but the party now has its sights set on spearheading the opposition – a position currently held by the second largest party in the National Assembly, PPP.

Chairman Imran Khan is vying for the office of Leader of the Opposition, according to PTI sources – a desire that has apparently gained momentum after the PPP failed to convince opposition parties of the new National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief’s nomination.



PTI leaders told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that the party finally decided to part ways with the incumbent Leader of Opposition Khursheed Shah of the PPP, who gave the go-ahead to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman as the new NAB chief.

As always, it’s all a matter of numbers in the National Assembly – can the PTI pull off the coup?

Clause 39-A of Chapter Five of Rules of Procedure of National Assembly reads: “A notice signed by a majority of the members of the opposition may be given to the Secretary showing that the leader of the opposition has lost the support of the majority of the members of the opposition. Such notice shall be accompanied by the nomination of a proposed new leader of the opposition signed by a majority of the members of the opposition.”

Varying Positions

“PTI has not made any decision yet. But we feel that Khursheed Shah was continuously ignoring other parties sitting on opposition benches on important issues including matter relate to the chairmanship of NA parliamentary committees. We’ll be taking this issue now,” says PTI Information Secretary MNA Dr Shireen Mazari.

Other parties, including the Awami Muslim League (AML) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) pledged their support to PTI. AML chief Sheikh Rashid said that Khursheed Shah has failed to deliver, and that he is siding with the government on important issues. “I’ll not only support PTI’s move but also convince other colleagues to vote for changing the incumbent opposition leader in the National Assembly,” he told The Express Tribune.

Professor Ibrahim of JI also pledged to support PTI, saying his party will also convince party members to vote for PTI in the National Assembly. “We will support PTI at all forums of politics,” he said.

PPP senior leader Ijaz Jakhrani said other parties reserve the right to bring a No-Confidence Motion against Khursheed Shah. “We are ready to face this move because we enjoy maximum numerical strength in the National Assembly.”

The Race to 50

Now, PTI and its allies in the National Assembly will try to replace Khursheed Shah with Imran Khan as new Leader of the Opposition, facing a tight race to gather enough votes among the opposition bench.

The numbers, as always, are tricky

PPP with 45 seats, enjoys the support of Pakistan Muslim League-Q (2 seats) and Awami National Party (2 seats), making a total of 49.

PTI has 35 seats and is aligned with Jamaat-e-Islami (4 seats), Awami Muslim League (1 seat), Qaumi Watan Party (Sherpao) (1 seat), Awami Jamhuri Ittehad Pakistan (1 seat), All Pakistan Muslim League (1 seat) and two independent seats, Jamshed Dasti from Muzaffargarh and Zain Elahi from Attock – making a total of 45.

PTI needs 50 seats to gain a majority of opposition seats in the NA. For this, PTI is hopeful of winning the support of four independent seats from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to equal PPP’s count.

The real trick will come after this. PTI Parliamentary Leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi will also try to woo Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the chief of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), sources say, whose party has four seats in the NA.

The catch here is that the PkMAP is allied with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the Balochistan government. Whether or not they will decide to vote as members of the opposition in the federal government will be a central question in the PTI’s bid for leader of the opposition.

MQM: king-makers again

Though Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has said it will not ally with any party in the opposition, all the math surrounding the PPP-PTI race will be moot if the fourth largest party of the assembly decide to go one way or another. The party holds 24 seats in the National Assembly

MQM spokesperson Wasay Jalil said his party will continue to work in the opposition independently. “Our coordination committee will take up the matter if any move gains momentum in the National Assembly,” he said.

PPP has maintained luke-warm relations with the MQM, but in the face of mounting violence in Karachi, the city’s leading party has had a number of issues with the PPP-led provincial government.

The PTI and MQM have also had a rocky relationship – particularly in the aftermath of the May 11 elections. PTI chief Imran Khan has, on more than one occasion, berated the MQM for its alleged use of violence in Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2013.