At least one prediction some analysts made about PTI's key coalition partner in Punjab, the PML-Q, has proved to be true. The party leader, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, a former chief minister, it was said, would not be content holding the assembly speakership; he would want more power for his party men, if not the position of the provincial chief executive for himself. On Sunday, a video went viral showing a Q League federal minister, Tariq Bashir Cheema, complaining to Jehangir Tareen, a close confidant of Prime Minister Imran Khan, against Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, accusing him of interference in his constituency to demand that he be reined in. And Pervaiz Elahi can be heard adding that Sarwar won't let Chief Minister Usman Buzdar perform his duties. Since the meeting took place at the Speaker's residence, it is more than obvious that the video was purposely leaked. He later held a press conference where he tried to play down the significance of disagreement with the governor. Yet the latter felt it necessary to take to the Twitter to say Usman Buzdar was the "centre of power" and working for the realization of the party chairman's vision.
So what prompted the Q League to come out in the open about its differences with the PTI? It could simply be the outcome of constituency level power tussle. To be sure, Governor Sarwar makes no secret of his desire to play a more proactive role than his position allows him. While reacting to the allegation of interference, he explained that he had been visiting every constituency and that during the last general elections he did support his party's candidate, Nadeem Warraich, who contested NA-171 seat against Tariq Cheema. Considering that was in the past, the Q League surely has some other cause of concern. It may well feel constrained to play traditional politics and hence decided to register protest. Nonetheless, some opinion leaders hold that Chaudhry Sahib has not given up his ambition to become the chief minister. In fact, some media persons seemingly sympathetic to him still point to the lacklustre performance of the incumbent to suggest the PTI would be better served by appointing a seasoned politician like Pervaiz Elahi in his place even though his party has only 10 seats in the Punjab Assembly. To lend weight to their case, they point to the 1993 example of Mian Manzoor Wattoo whose then party, Muslim League (Junejo), held only 18 seats in the Punjab Assembly yet the PPP having over a hundred seats elected him as the CM. No two situations are exactly alike, though. The PTI can hand the largest province's highest office to another party at the risk of undermining its own agenda. Besides, there is no dearth within its own ranks of more able and willing candidates to take that job.
If at all, there is any chance of success for him that can happen only if the PML-N decides to lend its support. That seems outside the realm of possibility in view of the fact that although the party's supreme leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif, had welcomed many associates of his nemesis, Gen Pervez Musharraf, he refused to forgive the Chaudhries of Gujrat - despite their best efforts - for the role they played in strengthening the general's hands. It is therefore in its own interest that the Q League behaves responsibly, and refrains from doing anything that could damage its major coalition partner.
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