Elahi, Hamza brace for final showdown

PTI-PML-Q alliance claims it has the 'magical number'

LAHORE:

Amid intense tensions and rising political mercury, the Punjab Assembly will head back to vote on Friday (today) to elect the new leader of the house – and the country’s political capital – as ordered by the Supreme Court to settle the dust on the long-drawn-out imbroglio triggered by the ‘disputed elections’ of the incumbent chief minister, Hamza Shehbaz, earlier this year.

In accordance with the recipe ordered by the apex court, the run-off polls are taking place five days after the by-polls on 20 seats that fell vacant after the disqualification of PTI defectors who voted for Hamza, in a new, reconstituted House with a changed electoral college.

PML-Q’s Pervaiz Elahi – PTI’s candidate – and the incumbent chief minister are now competing for the coveted post.

The bitterly contested political territory is buzzing with activities ranging from alleged parleys to peel off lawmakers from across the aisle, a flurry of meetings between political heavyweights and desperate labour to deliver a “last-minute shock” to the other side. Nonetheless, both the PTI-PML-Q alliance and the PML-N-led government have put on a bold face.

However, the stars are believed to be aligned for the PTI which, fresh off a victory in the first real test of its power in the recent Punjab by-polls, is entering the critical stretch of its plans to gather up the reins of the province it lost in a controversial chief minister’s election.

If it walks away as a victor in today’s contest, Imran Khan’s PTI will gain the political weightage it has been chasing to undercut the power of its arch-rivals in the Centre and pave the way back to Islamabad.

On the other hand, in a bid to hold the apparently slipping ground tight, the ruling PML-N has become feistier in its efforts to exhaust all options in its fast-shrinking room to save the Hamza-led government that was allowed by the apex court to continue only until today’s crucial elections.

A potential defeat would virtually leave the PML-N waiting for the other shoe to drop – a domino effect in Islamabad where the incumbent chief minister’s father, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, is keeping tabs on the province’s politics with bated breath.

It is noteworthy that a similar heated contest earlier this year had mushroomed into a constitutional crisis and left Punjab in limbo with no effective government.

With approximately 186 members, the PTI holds a majority in the 371-seat assembly. Before the PA by-polls, the opposition – PTI (158 MPAs) and PMLQ (10 MPAs) – had a total strength of 168.

Following the ECP’s notification on five reserved seats, the number increased to 173. The tally increased after it won seats in the by-elections.

Meanwhile, the PML-N, after grabbing four seats in the by-elections, has the strength of 180.

Imran warns against 'manipulation'

Leery of manipulation amid hardball tactics by the ruling party to retain its hold in the province, PTI chief Imran Khan fired the warning shot, alerting the 'state institutions' against any attempt to manipulate the polls because then “the public will not be in control”.

"Don't think for one moment that the people will sit idle in case of manipulation of the polls," he said while addressing his supporters via video link on Thursday. "I want to make it clear that the PTI will not tolerate theft of the public's vote with their own money," he added.

The former prime minister accused his rival political parties of using money to buy loyalties ahead of the crucial poll.

According to him, attempts are also being made to intimidate PTI's lawmakers to keep them away from the election.

He went on to say that every tactic is used to make sure that the PTI is defeated in the Punjab by-polls.

The ousted premier also came down hard on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), saying he doesn’t have any faith in the current chief election commissioner. “We won’t run for the next general elections with this man as the chief election commissioner.”

He ruled out any possibility of transparent elections with the current CEC in the chair.

Imran also criticised the ECP for postponing by-elections and local bodies polls in Sindh “over a mere excuse of rains”.

He also took the top electoral watchdog to task for its opposition to the electronic voting machines, saying it opposed the move more than the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

Poised to dethrone Hamza Shehbaz as Punjab’s chief executive after conquering the ‘citadel’ of the Sharifs, the top leadership of both the PTI and the PML-Q have instructed their lawmakers to stay in the provincial capital and not leave it.

The parties have also directed their members of the provincial assembly to show up on a fateful day without fail.

PTI-PML-Q alliance has the magical number

Meanwhile, members of the PTI-PML-Q alliance made the claims that they have the strength of 186 members – the magical number to show the majority in the house – and said there was a “big surprise” for CM Hamza Shehbaz.

The PTI and its key ally, PML-Q, held a parliamentary party session at a hotel in Lahore, where PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry claimed all 186 members were present.

The session was also addressed by party chairman Imran Khan.

Fawad claimed that the opposition had mustered the numerical backing of 186 members and asked PML-N to now worry about its own MPAs who were “unhappy” with their party’s leadership and its policies.

Similarly, in his interaction with the media, PML-Q’s Moonis Elahi asserted that the number game for the chief minister’s election has been completed.

Moonis, who is the son of the PTI’s candidate Elahi, said that PML-Q had the support of more than the required lawmakers.

“The government will see its defeat this time,” Moonis Elahi said, adding that their tactic of offering money to lawmakers will not work.

Meanwhile, PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari visited and held a meeting with PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain at his Zahoor Elahi Road residence.

Fresh MPAs sworn in

Meanwhile, nineteen newly elected Punjab members of the provincial assembly who secured seats in recent Punjab by-elections also took oath on Thursday.

Out of the elected MPAs, 15 belonged to the PTI, three to PML-N and one is an independent member.

Besides, MPA Ali Afzal Sahi, who was elected from Faisalabad has also been sworn in.

The development came after PTI Central Punjab President Dr Yasmin Rashid had urged the Election Commission of Pakistan a day earlier to notify the party’s winning candidates of the results of the by-election for 20 seats.

She also demanded that it should take action on horse trading by PM Shehbaz and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.

Dr Rashid stated that the winning candidates had yet to take the oath and then participate in the next session of the Punjab Assembly scheduled and notified for July 22 (today) in the Punjab Assembly building.

PML-N signals its validations

Meanwhile, in a significant interesting development, PML-N ‘validated’ the PTI’s assembly session by sending its three newly-elected MPAs to take the oath from PA Speaker Elahi – a rival in the polls.

This marks a stark contrast to what had been witnessed in previous such sessions where both camps decided to hold simultaneous sessions at separate places, trading blames running “illegal” sessions.

Earlier, speculations were swirling that the PML-N would repeat its strategy and will rather prefer deputy speaker Sardar Dost Muhammad Mazari to administer the oath.

However, the government continued to flex its muscles with claims that it was in no mood to give its arch-rival an easy walkover.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah in a statement repeated his claim that "politically aware" PTI lawmakers whose conscience is “alive” will never vote for the PML-Q leader in the chief minister’s election on Friday.

His statement comes as opposition parties — PTI and PML-Q — have accused the ruling PML-N of offering hefty amounts to their lawmakers in an attempt to buy their loyalties ahead of the Punjab chief minister election scheduled for tomorrow (Friday).

The ruling PML-N lost the majority in the provincial legislature after by-polls on 20 Punjab Assembly seats in which the PTI secured a landslide victory.

While the PTI-PML-Q is in a comfortable position to form the government, Sanaullah said his party believed that Elahi is unfit for the post of the Punjab chief executive.

“We are reaching out to everyone [to muster support for CM election] which is our political right,” the federal minister said while dismissing the allegations that the PML-N is involved in horse-trading.

“The run-off election will be held tomorrow and we will vigorously use our political options but I strongly reject the baseless allegations.”

Elahi recently filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking contempt proceedings against PML-N leaders including Sanaullah for allegedly intimidating the PTI lawmakers in violation of the court’s verdict.

Responding to Imran Khan's allegations, he said that the former himself is the “mastermind of buying and selling in politics”.

Sounding alarms over the alleged behind-the-scene parleys, the PTI chief on Wednesday said Lahore was witnessing a repeat of the Sindh House horse-trading episode that plagued the no-trust motion of the then opposition parties had brought in to muscle him out of power.

He said a hefty amount of Rs500m was being doled out to buy MPAs – the wheeling and dealing Imran claimed it was being architected by PPP’s Asif Zardari who “gets NRO (national reconciliation ordinance) for his corruption and purchases people with looted wealth”.

“Imran Khan should stop making baseless accusations and slandering others... himself remained involved in such [horse trading] activities and a video evidence of buying votes during Senate elections is also available,” Sana claimed.