PML-Q fissures

Politics in Punjab is in an evolutionary phase. Notwithstanding, the standoff between the PTI and the PML-N that has plunged the province in extreme instability for more than two months, there are fissures of new grouping here and there. The biggest unrest is being felt in the PML-Q, which has always been a critical power-brokering force in the province with stated inclinations. The Chaudhrys of Gujrat are realigning their political line of action, and tweaking their heartbeat in an attempt to galvanise with the emerging power realities in the province. Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi surprisingly are on either flanks of divide, and their narrative since the vote of no-confidence against PM Imran Khan went ahead is creating ripples. If reports are to be believed the young blood in the House of Gujrat is getting restless and wants to reemerge as a power-binder in the form of a new splinter political group, and that literally means a dent to the call of conscience that the Chaudhrys held for decades.

So is the case with the PTI dissidents who now do not see a political future, and are planning to jump in the PML-N ship. But that is where the problem rests as the consolidated vote bank of Sharifs is irked as they see new-comers as a liability at the cost of die-hard workers. Thus, as the PML-N goes into bye-elections a lot of lines would have been drawn as to what is its political nomenclature, and at the same time to what extent it obliges the PPP which is also banking on its largesse. The emergence of PML-Q’s new wing and that too with a split personality might act as the game-changer but could prove to be lethal for politics of consensus in Gujrat that the Chaudhrys always upheld. The one voice aspect of Chaudhrys is at stake.

All said and done, Pervez Elahi still remains a strong contender for chief ministership from the PTI-PMLQ combine, if the duo manage to retain their lost seats at the hands of dissidents. Likewise, the Shujaat Hussain’s vote bank at the Centre in support of PM Shehbaz Sharif will continue to act as a catalyst in retaining the federal government, which literally stands on their two legislators’ support. The puzzle is up for a deep-drawn battle, and the PML-Q will surely have a Trojan horse to show in times to come.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 13^th, 2022.

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