A new PM

There were no surprises in the National Assembly session on Tuesday as the PML-N candidate Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was voted in as the new prime minister. He received 221 votes, easily defeating the PPP’s Naveed Qamar and the Awami Muslim League’s/PTI’s Sheikh Rasheed who got 47 and 33 votes, respectively. Four members of parliament voted for the JI – a party that has never garnered electoral success. The session to elect the PM showed most of all the continued dominance of the PML-N over the National Assembly in which it holds a clear majority. The campaign against the Sharifs does not appear to have dissuaded parliamentarians from staying with the party, and all talks of a forward bloc have been inaccurate so far. The voting was along party lines, with the MQM joining PML-N in voting for Abbasi. In his maiden speech, Abbasi was defiant. He pointed out that the party still enjoyed the support of the majority and said he would do more than just keep the seat warm for the putative prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif. If there is any strife to be found right now, it is in the ranks of the opposition. Despite being given a golden opportunity to weaken the government, the opposition parties could not unite behind a single candidate. That was all but ensured when the PTI decided to opt for Sheikh Rasheed, a candidate who was not acceptable to the PPP. Imran Khan had signaled that he wasn’t looking to build bridges with the PPP when he threatened to come after Asif Zardari at his ‘victory’ rally in Islamabad on Sunday. That was confirmed when the PPP refused to support Sheikh Rasheed. That Imran Khan in typically arrogant style named the controversial Sheikh Rasheed even before consulting with the other parties and ahead of the opposition party meeting, shows a lack of political acumen.   

The PTI is facing internal strife of its own after MNA Ayesha Gulalai Wazir decided to quit the party, accusing the party leadership of treating workers in a humiliating manner. She went so far as to claim the leadership disrespects women and said Article 62 and 63 should be used against them too. Everyone expected some defections in the aftermath of the Supreme Court judgment but few could have predicted they would go against the PTI and in the direction of the PML-N. The PTI also showed how little importance it attaches to the political process when its chief, Imran Khan, didn’t even deign to show up and cast a vote for his chosen candidate. The PPP, too, has been unable to take advantage of the opportunity offered to it by the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif. In keeping with the lethargy that has afflicted the party for years now, it has offered nothing new by way of policy or personnel. And it may have been the PPP’s rule in Sindh, where it has alienated the MQM, that caused the latter to join hands with the PML-N. The apparent distancing of Chaudhry Nisar may also have encouraged the MQM – although one must keep in mind that the unpredictability of the MQM is almost a political legend. With parliament smoothly electing a replacement for the unseated Nawaz Sharif, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will of course remain the centre of attention for at least 45 days. The jockeying for position among the parties and individual politicians will continue over the next nine months, before the current government ends its term. If the days after the Supreme Court verdict are anything to go by, though, the opposition parties are yet to get their act together and offer something other than the same anti-government slogans.