No-trust move: What makes the Chaudhrys so important?

ISLAMABAD: The success or failure of the opposition’s no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan depends mainly on the decision of the PMLQ.

If the Chaudhrys of Gujrat side with the prime minister, the no-trust move is expected to be a failure. However, in case they decide to back the opposition’s move, the survival of the government will be extremely difficult.

The PMLQ’s numbers in the national assembly do, of course, matter, both for the government and the opposition. But more importantly, what the Chaudhrys decide will be considered a ‘signal’ from the powers that be.

Informed sources say that the Chaudhrys are still weighing their options. They are closely monitoring the political situation without revealing their cards. According to a PMLQ source, the party leadership is also keenly watching and expecting some key developments within the government.

The expected development, if it happens, would trigger matters and help the Chaudhrys make their decision. Knowing the importance of the Chaudhrys and their connections in the given situation, both the PTI and the opposition are working hard to woo them to their respective sides. The Chaudhrys, however, have been non-committal so far because they themselves are not clear about what will happen on the real front.

The Chaudhrys are meeting everyone who visits them. Their response to every overture is calculated. They had a number of meetings with opposition leaders but their decision remains pending. On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Imran Khan met them and here too no assurance or commitment was made.

After the meeting, the government side fed the media with the information that the Chaudhrys offered full support to Imran Khan and that they would not side with the opposition in a no-trust move. As soon as such stories started appearing on TV channels the same evening, a PMLQ source told The News that all such stories were untrue.

This correspondent was also told that the issue of a no-trust motion was not discussed at all. Instead, it was clarified, a general discussion took place in the meeting. Later in a TV talk show, a federal minister belonging to the PMLQ, Tariq Bashir Cheema, said that the issue of a no-trust motion was not discussed in the meeting.

The PMLQ leader added that his party leadership did not give any statement in support of the government and wondered who was spreading such false stories. Cheema added that the party had given the mandate of taking a decision to Pervez Elahi. The party has not yet taken any decision, he said, explaining that whenever a decision is taken, it would be announced through the media.

Contrary to what the government has been propagating through its spin doctors, the PMLQ issued a press release after the PM’s meeting with the Chaudhrys. The press release neither mentioned any word about the no-trust move nor assured any support to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Like the government, the opposition is also anxious to win the support of the PMLQ. They believe that the PMLQ’s support to the opposition would give the opposition’s move a great boost because of some strong perceptions about the politics of the Chaudhrys. According to opposition sources, if the PMLQ decides to support the no-trust move, it would encourage many fence-sitters in the PTI to join the opposition. Interestingly, while both the government and the opposition are trying to win the support of the Chaudhrys, the influential family from Gujrat is calmly sitting with their eyes fixed somewhere else.