Coalition blues

Having disbanded the committee charged with negotiating with its coalition allies over their grievances, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan reconstituted his negotiation team and dispatched Federal Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood to Lahore on February 3, 2020 to talk to the estranged PML-Q leadership. However, the efforts of the honourable minister appear to have come to naught. Chaudhry Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi cast the meeting as anything but a negotiation, insisting there would be no talks with the new committee, only the fulfillment of the agreement arrived at with the previous negotiating committee. The deadlock therefore persists despite Shafqat Mahmood's revelation during a press conference after the meeting that he had assured the Chaudhries that the new committee would not open negotiations anew but proceed on the foundations of the agreement already reached. That however was not the most important part of the press conference but rather the notable absence of the Chaudhries from it. It may be recalled that the previous negotiating committee, comprising Jahangir Tareen, Pervez Khattak and Shahzad Arbab, was disbanded and replaced by the new committee in which, apart from Shafqat Mahmood, Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar were included. Media reports say some party insiders complained to PM Imran Khan that Jahangir Tareen had proved too 'soft' and conceded more to the PML-Q than was justified. The PM then withdrew Jahangir Tareen from the negotiations with the PML-Q as well as another disgruntled coalition partner, MQM. Although the PM is within his rights to appoint anyone to negotiate with estranged coalition partners, his choice of Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar may not have gone down well with the Chaudhries. Their reservations revolve around the manner in which Buzdar is handling the affairs of Punjab. They are also unhappy with the Punjab bureaucracy working under him since they complain that the civil servants still are tilted towards the PML-N. Speaker of the Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said during the meeting with Shafqat Mahmood that he would like a meeting with PM Imran Khan on the matter, and added that the federal government should refrain from making changes (in the committee) that create distrust. Moonis Elahi last week had also asked on Twitter why the PTI government seemed bent on sabotaging itself. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Chaudhry Shujaat expressed the view after the meeting with Shafqat Mahmood that some ministers were trying to create misunderstandings between the allies and that the PM faces a threat from people within his own party. Although disappointment was writ large over Shafqat Mahmood's comment during his press conference that the PML-Q seemed not to believe in give and take, the fiasco appears to be a PTI own goal.

What the PTI has to learn is a very simple and basic truth. Coalitions cannot be held together without flexibility on the part of the bigger partner. Keeping coalition allies on board requires the understanding that politics in Pakistan has evolved over the years into patronage in the constituencies. If the PML-Q (and MQM) are ignored vis-à-vis their complaints that they are unable to keep their constituents satisfied because of a dearth of fulfillment of the promises made to them when they joined the coalition and an attitude on the part of the federal government that does not keep in view the exigencies of patronage politics in the constituencies, trouble is bound to follow. This is the 'normal' culture of coalitions in our country. It should not be taken for blackmail, since it appears to the disgruntled allies that there are promises the federal government must keep and maintain some sensitivity to their concerns. PM Imran Khan should not forget that the PTI has only a razor thin majority in the National Assembly. Unless his government smoothes the ruffled feathers of its coalition partners, it may well find itself hoist on its own petard.