PTI-MQM move to replace Shah fizzles out

Muttahida changes track after securing ‘assurances’ from PPP in Sindh

ISLAMABAD: The joint move initiated by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan to replace the opposition leader in the National Assembly seemed to have fizzled out as both parties have failed to muster the support of smaller parliamentary groups.

A senior PTI leader on Sunday claimed that Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi had failed to win over Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) during his recent meeting with the party’s senior leadership in Mansoora, Lahore.

On the other, he said, the MQM – which initiated of the move – had also suddenly backed off from its earlier stance after securing some ‘assurances’ from the PPP related to Sindh.

“The JI considers the move ill-timed and unnecessary,” the PTI leader quoted Shah as saying when he briefed the PTI chairman about his meeting with the party chief.

“The JI is of opinion that Khursheed Shah’s conduct as opposition leader in the lower house has been satisfactory,” JI Secretary General Liaqat Baloch told The Express Tribune.



He said the JI had neither assured its unconditional and all-out support to the PTI nor refused to become part of the move.

“We will see if the MQM-P continues to stick to its earlier suggestion of replacing the opposition leader. Everyone knows the party (MQM) has a history of backtracking from its stance,” Baloch said.

The JI central leader added that recently PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari hinted that his party would consider justifiable demands made by the MQM.

“If the initiator of the move, the MQM-P, changes its stance, then there is no question left of any advancement to this effect,” he added.

He said the JI would wait and see the strategy of the MQM and the PTI before taking its final decision.

“Khursheed Shah has already announced that if the PTI and the MQM-P succeed in mustering enough support, then he will quit voluntarily,” Baloch said, adding, “It’s time to show the strength in the opposition’s ranks rather than resorting to infighting to grab the opposition leader’s slot.”



To a question about the appointment of the NAB chairman, the JI secretary-general said, “Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah held consultations with the JI for this.”

They (the prime minister and opposition leader) have chosen the name of the new NAB chairman, exercising their constitutional right,” Baloch said.

MQM-P’s Dr Farooq Sattar could not be reached for comment despite repeated efforts.

The current number game in the National Assembly shows that smaller opposition parties – the JI and the PML-Q – will have a not-so-minor role in any political move aimed at ousting Khursheed Shah from the position of leader of the opposition.

If the PTI and the MQM-P join hands, they would have a total of 51 MPs supporting their candidate, and the sole Awami Muslim League-MP – Sheikh Rashid – would push this number to 52.

On the other hand, the largest opposition party, the PPP has a total of 47 MNAs. The Awami National Party and the Qaumi Watan Party have announced their support for Khursheed Shah. Both of them have three MNAs each in the National Assembly. In this way, the PPP already has the support of 50 MNAs to oppose the PTI-MQM move.



And there comes the significance of JI’s four MNAs and the PML-Q’s two MNAs, who can play a decisive role in the National Assembly.

A PTI spokesperson, commenting on the situation, said the party’s vice-chairman was in the process of holding consultation with other opposition parties in this regard and it would be ‘premature to say the move to oust Shah has flopped’.