editorial/Ansar Bhatti
PML Q leader and Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Ch. Pervez Elahi’s statement about their future relations with the government has caused ripples especially among the PTI ranks for nobody was expecting from PMLQ leadership to issue such a statement. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan is in trouble as opposition parties have almost decided to support the no-trust move. In a recent statement Ch. Pervez Elahi said all opposition parties offered us something except the govt and Imran Khan.
He added, now it seems that the prime minister has missed the train. He said they have almost decided their future course of action. They are only waiting for the MQM to make its mind. He said MQM had some differences with Asif Zardari. 70 per cent of the differences have been addressed. He added, in case we reach an agreement, Asif Zardari shall be our grantor.
But interestingly the very next day Ch. Pervez Elahi had to sort of retract his statement saying they were still part of the govt alliance and had not joined the opposition forces. The statement came soon after Defence Minister Pervez Khattak’s tirade against the PMLQ leadership in which he accused them of using blackmailing tactics to get the Punjab chief minister slot.
Another govt partner MQM has its own demands. It wants all its offices de sealed in Karachi. In addition, it also wants a due share in the Sindh government in case it join hands with the opposition parties. Another king maker in the given circumstances happens to be the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), that too is negotiating its terms of conditions with the opposition parties in order to be the part of the anti-govt alliance. The PMLQ, BAP and MQM are generally considered as the pro-establishment parties and will switch over to either govt or opposition alliances after getting nod from the establishment.
The Prime Minister must be spending sleepless nights these days as he has hitherto failed to secure a clear support even from his allied parties. A state of uncertainty continues to grip the country. The economic woes are multiplying. Price hike is taking a heavy toll on people. Stock exchange continues its downward slide thus badly shaking the confidence of the investors. It is still unclear as to how the new government will cope with the deteriorating economic situation because so far we have not heard anything from them. —
