Pervaiz Elahi’s charm attracted a dozen PML-N votes

ISLAMABAD: Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi’s longstanding personal connections produced a dozen votes from the rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to secure his election as the speaker of the Punjab Assembly.

The pain inflicted on the PML-N, however, proved to be short lived.

It subsequently secured its full allotment of votes in the deputy speaker’s election and retained them in the chief minister's election.

The fact that the deputy speaker did not hold on to the additional 12 votes secured by Elahi indicates that no forward bloc in the PML-N has yet come into existence. Had it, the wayward dozen PML-N votes would have been cast for the deputy speaker of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

In all, Elahi pocketed 14 votes more than the combined total of PTI and PML-Q MPAs. Of these extra votes, one came from Rah-e-Haq legislator Amir Moavia Azam and another from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Raees Nabil Ahmed.

Pervaiz Elahi secured 201 votes versus the 147 ballots of his challenger, Chaudhry Iqbal Gujjar of the PML-N. However, the joint candidate of the PTI and PML-Q nominee for the post of deputy speaker, Dost Mazari, bagged 187 votes, the sum total of their combined strength in the Punjab Assembly.

Similarly, PML-N candidate Malik Waris got 159 ballots out of the PML-N strength of 162, because two lawmakers had proceeded to Saudi Arabia for the Haj pilgrimage and Uzma Qadri, wife of the estranged Zaeem Qadri, did not cast her vote because she had not yet taken oath.

After his election as speaker, Pervaiz Elahi said no forward bloc has been created in the PML-N. Instead, he contended the PML-N had tasted the bitter medicine it had administered to the PML-Q in 2008, when it lured lawmakers to ensure the election of Shahbaz Sharif as the Punjab chief minister. For decades, Pervaiz Elahi remained associated with the Sharifs-led PML-N. He served as the deputy prime minister, Punjab chief minister and Punjab speaker, facilitating the development of ties with many PML-N figures.

The Chaudhrys of Gujrat have long been renowned for cultivating personal relations with politicians of all hues. This was acknowledged by Hamza Shahbaz in his address to the Punjab Assembly, after he lost the election for Punjab chief minister to the ruling coalition's nominee Usman Buzdar. Hamza said he was heartened by the election of Pervaiz Elahi, as the two had been detainees in the same prison during the early period of the Pervaiz Musharraf junta.

The Chaudhrys’ amicable nature and down-to-earth persona played a fundamental role in garnering the extra dozen votes for Elahi. However, since the Chaudhrys’ departure from the PML-N during Musharraf’s rule, and their formation of the PML-Q, Elahi has relentlessly attacked the PML-N, particularly the Sharif brothers. His cousin Shujaat Hussain has not been so hard-hitting.

Considering that the PML-Q holds just 10 seats in the Punjab Assembly, Pervaiz Elahi’s election as speaker is remarkable. It also demonstrates the precarious numbers game in the national and Punjab legislatures, wherein the senior coalition partner, the PTI, has to keep its smaller partners happy and cooperative to ensure the longevity of its administration.