The announcement by the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to nominate Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervez Elahi as Chief Minister has turned the political turmoil into a political storm.
On the one hand, the PTI workers themselves are shocked by this sudden change, on the other hand, the opposition is also in a dilemma.
Sardar Usman Bazdar announced his resignation from the post of Chief Minister in a tweet in which he said that “he is happily stepping down from the post and he has full confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan.”
In this situation, the most important question at the moment is how difficult it is for the government to make Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi the Chief Minister of Punjab.
To understand this, it is first necessary to know the current position of the party in the Punjab Assembly.
The Punjab Assembly has 371 members while any party needs the support of 186 members to form a government.
In 2018, Sardar Usman Bazdar was elected Chief Minister of Punjab with 194 votes. The PML-Q had supported him with its 10 votes in return for which party president Pervez Elahi was made the speaker of the Punjab Assembly.
The party’s position in the Punjab Assembly is that the PTI has 183 members in the ruling coalition, the PML-Q has 10 and the Rah-e-Haq Party has one.
In the opposition alliance, PML-N has 165 members and PPP has seven. In this regard, it is not at all difficult for Pervez Elahi to become the Chief Minister of Punjab but now the situation is different from 2018.
The biggest challenge that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi may face to become the Chief Minister of Punjab is the political factions within the ruling PTI.
The largest faction is that of Jahangir Khan Tareen, who apparently parted ways with the government in April last year. When the FIA ​​prosecuted Jahangir Tareen, he showed his strength by appearing in court with more than 20 members of the provincial assembly.
More than 20 members of the provincial assembly who have sided with Jahangir Tareen have not yet reconsidered their decision, which is why they have called on the largest faction of the PTI to remove the impediment to Pervez Elahi. it will have to be done.
Similarly, Aleem Khan could also be a challenge to Pervez Elahi because when Aleem Khan announced his separation from the party, it seemed that he might emerge as the Punjab Chief Ministerial candidate himself.
The PML-Q issued statements in which it was announced that Aleem Khan would not be recognized as the Chief Minister of Punjab under any circumstances.
A key member of the group told Urdu News that there is a huge gap between Aleem Khan and Chaudhry. Aleem Khan thinks that Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi criticized him unnecessarily many times.
Although Aleem Khan claims that he has met more than 40 members of the Provincial Assembly since forming his group, it is not yet known how many members of the Assembly are actually with him.
The opposition had said in a no-confidence motion against Usman Bazdar that they had the support of more than 200 members of the provincial assembly and that those members did not include Jahangir Tareen or Aleem Khan’s group. This claim of the opposition can also be an obstacle for the PML-Q leader.
In other words, the opposition believes that the ruling party will face the same situation in the province as the PTI has faced in the federation.
But so far the opposition has not been able to bring to light members who have raised the flag of rebellion against their own government.
While PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi may face a difficult situation, some issues seem to be in his favor, such as the five PML-N MPAs who defected from their party in 2020. Were
Showcause notices were also issued to these members but they did not return to the party while there is also a PPP MP who has declared rebellion against his party a long time ago.
Similarly, the PTI has been claiming that it has “secretly joined” several members of the PML-N. If they come to the fore at the last moment, then there is a possibility of some reduction in the problems of Pervez Elahi. However, the sword of incompetence may be hanging over these members.