PML-Q wants Buzdar to continue, PM told

ISLAMABAD: Although rumour mills run high about the likely removal of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, PTI allies in provincial government has conveyed to the federal government they want incumbent CM to continue and that bringing an in-house change is easier said than done. In a last week meeting between Prime Minister Imran Khan and his key ally in Punjab, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, the future of Usman Buzdar also came under discussion. The PM Office has been receiving complaints regarding the slow pace of progress which is attributed to Buzdar’s lack of administrative skills. That he is unable to handle so many groups within the party remains yet another cause of concern. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi who is also Speaker of Punjab Assembly, urged caution against taking any step in haste, a source at the PM House told The News while discussing meeting details. Instead, he put up a strong defense to Buzdar, saying his party is in support of his continuity. A PML-Q source confirmed that his party is supportive of Buzdar. “He was not our choice. We had offered unconditional support to any candidate that the PTI would field,” the PML-Q source said referring to negotiations at the time of government formation. “Once decided, we agreed upon him. Let him continue,” he said. Asked who chose Buzdar as there are speculations doing round that he was the nominee of a powerful lady. “I only know that his name was conveyed to our leadership by Jehangir Khan Tareen,” according to a PML-Q MPA close to Chaudhrys of Gujrat.

With 10 members in Punjab Assembly, the PML-Q is a king-maker in the province. The PTI has 180 seats; it needed the support of 51% MPAs to form the government which means 186 votes. PML-Q was the answer. While majority of members who won as independent candidates had joined the PTI, four such MPAs retained their independent status. Pakistan Rah-e-Haq with one MPA had also voted the incumbent CM during his elections making a total of 15 votes from allies.

Nevertheless, Buzdar could bag only 186 votes thus forming a fragile government heavily dependent on coalition partners mainly on the PML-Q. (One may say that he got this number of vote as there were cases where candidates won on national and provincial seats both and later opted to retain the national.) In contrast, Pervaiz Elahi won the election of speaker with 201 votes indicating his support base in the PML-N as well in addition to the vote he bagged from the PTI.

Any plan to bring an in-house change isn’t without risk in present setting, according to sources aware of the current situation. Considering the plan is finalised, the first major challenge is to forge consensus on the candidate at a time when there are many aspirants from within the PTI.

If that obstacle is crossed, election of the new CM will be another challenge in waiting. There are many treasury MPAs who are upset due to the shortage of funds. Independent MPAs are not obliged to vote and persuading them is yet another daunting task. “Gone are the days when one has to deal with them as a group,” said a wheeler-dealer of present set-up. “They want to be dealt individually and each of them has his own set of demands,” he said.