PML-Q threatened by battle between PPP, PML-N
As PPP ally’s fears heighten, president moves to quell anxiety.
ISLAMABAD:
Struggling to sustain its individual identity as a mainstream political party, the already-fractured Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain-led Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) seems now to be facing threats of extinction from its own ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
According to PML-Q insiders, many of its members are already in covert alignment with the PPP while the ruling party continues to approach some other ‘winning’ candidates from its ranks to join it before the next general elections.
Consequently, PML-Q’s leadership has conveyed “serious reservations” to PPP’s top leadership over the emerging threat and warned the ruling party that this situation will not bode well for the future relationship of the two parties, sources revealed.
And to add to matters, during a meeting just a few days back, President Asif Ali Zardari is said to have suggested to the Chaudhrys that they contest the next election under a PPP banner — basically a direct offer of a merger.
“Chaudhry Shujaat has conveyed to the president in clear words that the two parties have different vote banks and contesting elections with the symbol of an ‘arrow’ was not possible. However, seat adjustments could be a good option,” a PML-Q leader told The Express Tribune.
An influential family from Sindh, the Sherazis, have already aligned with the PPP while the Mehars – another political powerhouse in the province – are also being approached. Both families have been associated with the PML-Q for the past few years.
While Ayaz Shah Sherazi is a serving MNA on PML-Q’s ticket, his father was made adviser to Sindh’s chief minister after the two parties formed an alliance some two years back. Muhammad Ali Malkani, another PML-Q MPA, seems like a potential defection to PPP.
MPA Sheryar Mehar – PML-Q’s Sindh chapter President Ghous Baksh Mehar’s son – has been openly expressing his differences with the party’s leadership. Besides mounting fears of more defections from Sindh, PML-Q was also blindsided by the appointment of Manzoor Wattoo as president of the PPP’s Punjab chapter.
According to PML-Q insiders, the resourceful Wattoo is considered an expert of “political manoeuvring” and can affect PML-Q’s influence in Punjab. This move, which political pundits believe was mainly aimed at challenging the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Punjab, has also caused quite a bit of stir in the PML-Q ranks.
During the 1990s, Wattoo was able to dislodge the Sharif brothers’ administration in Punjab and form the government with a handful of members after support from the PPP.
“Some important members of our party, even some federal cabinet members from our party, can defect to PPP in Punjab,” a senior leader of PML-Q feared.
Solace?
To alleviate these fears and remove the burgeoning differences between the two parties, President Zardari has constituted a committee of four senior PPP leaders from Punjab.
The committee – comprising Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Wattoo and Imtiaz Safdar Waraich – is tasked to resolve differences with the PML-Q and listen to their grievances.
The same committee is also slated to work with the PML-Q to challenge the hold of PML-N in Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2012.
Struggling to sustain its individual identity as a mainstream political party, the already-fractured Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain-led Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) seems now to be facing threats of extinction from its own ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
According to PML-Q insiders, many of its members are already in covert alignment with the PPP while the ruling party continues to approach some other ‘winning’ candidates from its ranks to join it before the next general elections.
Consequently, PML-Q’s leadership has conveyed “serious reservations” to PPP’s top leadership over the emerging threat and warned the ruling party that this situation will not bode well for the future relationship of the two parties, sources revealed.
And to add to matters, during a meeting just a few days back, President Asif Ali Zardari is said to have suggested to the Chaudhrys that they contest the next election under a PPP banner — basically a direct offer of a merger.
“Chaudhry Shujaat has conveyed to the president in clear words that the two parties have different vote banks and contesting elections with the symbol of an ‘arrow’ was not possible. However, seat adjustments could be a good option,” a PML-Q leader told The Express Tribune.
An influential family from Sindh, the Sherazis, have already aligned with the PPP while the Mehars – another political powerhouse in the province – are also being approached. Both families have been associated with the PML-Q for the past few years.
While Ayaz Shah Sherazi is a serving MNA on PML-Q’s ticket, his father was made adviser to Sindh’s chief minister after the two parties formed an alliance some two years back. Muhammad Ali Malkani, another PML-Q MPA, seems like a potential defection to PPP.
MPA Sheryar Mehar – PML-Q’s Sindh chapter President Ghous Baksh Mehar’s son – has been openly expressing his differences with the party’s leadership. Besides mounting fears of more defections from Sindh, PML-Q was also blindsided by the appointment of Manzoor Wattoo as president of the PPP’s Punjab chapter.
According to PML-Q insiders, the resourceful Wattoo is considered an expert of “political manoeuvring” and can affect PML-Q’s influence in Punjab. This move, which political pundits believe was mainly aimed at challenging the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Punjab, has also caused quite a bit of stir in the PML-Q ranks.
During the 1990s, Wattoo was able to dislodge the Sharif brothers’ administration in Punjab and form the government with a handful of members after support from the PPP.
“Some important members of our party, even some federal cabinet members from our party, can defect to PPP in Punjab,” a senior leader of PML-Q feared.
Solace?
To alleviate these fears and remove the burgeoning differences between the two parties, President Zardari has constituted a committee of four senior PPP leaders from Punjab.
The committee – comprising Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Wattoo and Imtiaz Safdar Waraich – is tasked to resolve differences with the PML-Q and listen to their grievances.
The same committee is also slated to work with the PML-Q to challenge the hold of PML-N in Punjab.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2012.