PML-Q’s death knell?

The Chaudhrys of Gujrat were once considered the gold standard of family politics, putting on a united face no matter what the degree of internal rifts in the two decades since the PML-Q was formed at General Pervez Musharraf’s direction the as the ‘King’s Party’. Today, however, it appears party chief and former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has had enough of former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi’s constant power grabs. Within a day of Elahi claiming that the PML-Q could merge with the PTI, which is a decision that only Shujaat can legally take, the party chief suspended Elahi’s membership and issued him a show-cause notice. Elahi’s son and former federal minister Moonis Elahi, his nephew Hussain Elahi, and Senator Kamil Ali Agha — the federal-level segment of the party that is supporting Elahi against Shujaat’s leadership — have also been issued show cause notices.

While Parvez Elahi is the biggest fish, Moonis probably still gets the blame for letting the cat out of the bag — he has been raving about how good it would be for the PML-Q to join the PTI, even though Shujaat has been consistently opposed to a formal merger, and Elahi was also reportedly interested in mending fences with his older cousin. Assuming that there are some teeth behind this move, it appears increasingly likely that the PML-Q is about to see a permanent split, as it has been clear for several months that Elahi wants guarantees of powerful elected offices for himself and his son, and the only sure way for him to get those from the PTI is if he is a member of the party, rather than a potential coalition member. Even if Imran Khan has promised him the job for being a loyal ally, in politics, promises mean nothing. If the PTI wins an outright majority in Punjab, there is no way that other party leaders from Punjab would accept an outsider getting the top job.

Meanwhile, Shujaat and his camp have little to offer the Elahis, apart from familial loyalty, as the party’s footprint in Islamabad and Lahore continues to dwindle.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2023.

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