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PMLQ claims it has ‘made a decision’ but will announce it only after consultations with all other allies
The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid), one of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)’s allied parties in government, on Sunday announced it has decided on its course of action for the no-confidence resolution against Prime Minister Imran Khan, with leader Pervaiz Elahi saying a formal announcement will be issued after a final round of consultations with other allies of the ruling coalition.
Speaking with journalists after a consultative meeting of the party in Lahore, Elahi—who is also the Punjab Assembly Speaker—said final consultations were underway with the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). While the parties have not formally claimed it, the consultations suggest they are planning on a joint decision on whether to support the opposition’s move to oust the prime minister.
According to Elahi, the PMLQ has decided the incumbent assemblies would complete their five-year term; a contrast to opposition demands for early elections as soon as pending issues of electoral reforms have been resolved. The PMLQ leader also claimed that a meeting with Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) President Shahbaz Sharif could take place “any time.”
To a question, the Punjab Assembly Speaker said the PMLQ’s lawmakers would resign from the ruling coalition’s cabinets if they joined the opposition’s coalition. He said the PMLQ was also in contact with the PTI’s dissident group led by Jahangir Khan Tareen/
To another question, Elahi urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to continue his efforts to save his premiership, while stressing that the Constitution and law were very clear and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser should abide by it, a reference to the PTI’s stated plans of blocking dissident voters in violation of the rules.
According to sources, the PMLQ is seeking the chief minister’s slot in Punjab for Elahi from both the opposition and the government in exchange for its support. Reportedly, the opposition has agreed to this but refused to guarantee the assemblies will complete their five-year term. While some reports have alleged the prime minister is also willing to replace incumbent Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar with Elahi, the PMLQ wants the announcement to come before the National Assembly session takes up the opposition’s no-trust motion.
MQM’s options open
The MQM, meanwhile, said it was still keeping its “options” open and would take a decision on the no-confidence motion that was “in line with national and party interest.” Addressing a press conference after a meeting with Sindh Government Imran Ismail, a senior leader of the PTI, MQM leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqi said the party had “a very long tradition that we take workers’ opinion onboard whenever we make any major decision.”
Stressing that “democracy should not be derailed” no matter the outcome of the no-trust vote, he said that while the PMLQ and MQM were allies with the PTI, they were not bound to follow each other’s directions.
“The PMLQ is free to make its decision and so are we,” he said. “If you honestly analyze the situation, the MQM doesn’t enjoy the political space being enjoyed by the opposition parties. So everyone has its own conditions and scenario to follow. Our commitment is with the democracy and a common man of Pakistan. We won’t make any decision which damages anyone of them,” he said, adding that he could not rule out meetings with any opposition leader in future.
Addressing media after the meeting, the Sindh governor claimed he had met the MQM to convey a message of the prime minister. “We have requested their [MQM] support [against no-confidence] and if we win support of our allies, we don’t need anything else,” he said.
The opposition needs to prove the support of 172 members of the National Assembly to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan. It currently enjoys the support of 162 members of the 342-member Lower House and thus needs to muster up 10 more MNAs. The MQM has seven seats in the National Assembly, while the PMLQ has 5; the BAP 5; and the GDA 3. If the opposition can attract just the MQM and PMLQ, that alone would be sufficient for it to deliver a successful no-confidence vote against the prime minister.