Alliance in the making?

Politics makes strange bedfellows and nowhere is it truer than in Pakistan. How else can we make sense of the patch-up between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and post-Altaf Hussain Muttahida Qaumi Movement? The two parties, fierce critics of one another, are thinking of mounting a challenge against the incumbent leader of opposition in the National Assembly, Khursheed Shah of the PPP, and possibly replacing him with PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The move is expected to yield high dividends to both challengers. PTI will find it useful to have its candidate installed on the job so that he could help decide next month’s appointment of the new NAB chief in collaboration with the leader of the house under the 18^th amendment. Another advantage would be having a say in the selection of a caretaker setup before the 2018 general elections.

The MQM seems equally interested in seeing the back of Khursheed Shah and is clearly piqued at the PPP over its handling of issues in Karachi. With the existing numerical strength of the two parties, along with some smaller groups in NA, it may seem doable. Rule 39 and 39 A of the Rules of Procedure outline the procedure for such a change. But the two parties will need to get signatures of all the members on the opposition benches in support of this change on two separate letters addressed to the speaker. This is a significant development irrespective of whether it meets with success or failure.

In the wake of efforts to unite different factions of the post-Altaf MQM, it is not hard to foresee political cooperation, if not a formal alliance, between PTI and MQM. Both these parties have a vote bank in urban Sindh and with support from groups like the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, can pose quite a threat to the PPP in the province where it has been governing unimpressively, yet unchallenged for a decade now.

The country’s history is replete with such specially constituted alliances between political groupings which otherwise had nothing in common. The future election contest may well be a PPP vs anti-PPP vote in Sindh and PML-N vs anti-PML-N battle in Punjab. And whoever emerges victorious in that battle will form the next government.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 17^th, 2017.

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