Punjab Assembly: No surprises in PML-N stronghold

LAHORE:

As unofficial results of the Senate elections trickled in from Lahore, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) looked set to sweep all seats in Punjab, quelling rumours of ‘dissent’ within the prime minister’s bastion.

The PML-N leadership came out aggressively defending its earlier stance that it would bag all the Senate seats from Punjab, dismissing allegations of ‘Punjabi chauvinism’ by casting vote for party workers who did not belong to the province and negating any defections within the party.

“Our party today stands at a better place than ever before,” remarked a visibly jubilant Federal Minister for Climate Change, Mushahidullah Khan. Despite Mushahidullah’s optimism about the results reinforcing the trust and confidence reposed in his party by the people and provincial legislators of Punjab, he failed to respond to questions about the 27 extra votes grabbed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) challenger Nadeem Afzal Chan.

A total of 337 votes were cast for seven general seats, two women and two technocrat seats. The Punjab Assembly has a total of 371 seats out of which two are vacant on account of the said members being disqualified. While the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) remained away from the Senate elections, its 30 members failed to play any role in forging alliances with the PPP for its candidate Nadeem Afzal Chan or even for its own candidate. This clearly irked the PPP leadership, including Chan who was contesting on the general seat. The PPP was left relying on its coalition with the PML-Q, with both the parties having 8 seats each.

Of the 312 members of the PML-N, two were unable to make it to the assembly to cast their vote, with the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bahawalpur National Awami Party pledging support of one of each of its seat for the PMLN with the Pakistan Muslim League Zia also pledging support for the PML-N. But with more than expected votes, 16 from PPP and PML-Q alliance and at least 4 from independent candidates, as claimed by the PPP, being cast in favour of Chan, the PML-N leadership was left explaining the vote shift. As Chan vocally thanked ‘defectors’ in PML-N for their vote, the PML-N kept ignoring the number of excess votes. Successful general seat candidate Mushahid Ullah Khan said the real issue was not that Chan managed to get slightly more votes than estimated, but that he lost despite ‘exaggerated claims’.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 6^th, 2015.