Through the tumultuous years of democracy in Pakistan, space for the king’s party is created to cater to the political needs of the powers that be ahead of every election. Sometimes a faction comprising electables springs up within one of the major parties to join another contender to complete the required numbers in the provincial or the national assemblies.
It is thanks to this pattern that Pakistan Muslim League, the country’s founding party, has splintered ad infinitum to give birth to faction after faction since the birth of Pakistan.
Small wonder then that, true to this pattern, there are whispers of a new king’s party in the making three years into the term of the incumbent government. Poor performance in government of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is being seen as the reason behind the likely shuffle.
Many PTI parliamentarians are already in search of a platform other than PTI and PML-N to contest next elections, fearing strong chances of defeat at the hands of their rivals in the PML-N.
“We avoid our voters in our constituencies as the soaring prices of daily use items have made their lives miserable and there are no hopes of any relief in near future”, a so-called electable was recently overheard saying. “The only option is to find a new party”.
The Jahangir Tareen group has refused to budge despite some relief provided to the group leader and acceptance of major demands of the group members who were invited by the Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and offered special development grants in their respective constituencies.
Nevertheless, their reservations are not going away as the group remains intact in
Punjab expecting several other members of the parliament to join them before the next general elections.
Aleem Khan, a close associate of Jahangir Tareen, has also tendered his resignation citing ‘personal reasons’. He is waiting for acceptance by Prime Minister Khan. “As soon as the PM accepts my resignation, I will submit a formal resignation from the ministry to the Punjab Chief Minister,” he told reporters a few days ago.
Some close friends of a frustrated Aleem Khan have revealed he has decided to quit politics after sheer disappointment over the treatment he has faced at the hands of the senior leadership. They say his entire focus will be on his business, which has suffered badly during all this time. There are also rumours he has purchased one of the top news channels of the country to enter the club of influential lot of the country.
Meanwhile, in an interview, Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervez Elahi ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the PTI in the next general elections. He told the host that they will make the decision in accordance with the political situation of the country.
Although they are the key allies of the PTI at the federal and provincial levels, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat have sporadically resorted to criticising the policies of the PTI government, especially on the price-hike, in a bid to maintain their separate identity on critical issues. Hence, they have a bright chance of becoming part of the future alignment of the political setup.
On the other hand, Pakistan Muslim League (N) continues to face the dilemma of appeasement and hostile narratives. Recently, PML-N MNA Mian Javed Latif from Sheikhupura was issued a show-cause notice for launching a series of attacks on
some elements within the party who he said were trying to appease the establishment and sabotage the narrative of the party supremo Nawaz Sharif.
“Some leaders are on assignment from certain forces to play the role of a spoiler,” he remarked, without naming anybody in an interview with a local TV channel. It was widely believed that his indirect reference was to Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Shahbaz Sharif.
It was learnt that Shahbaz Sharif was extremely annoyed by the statement of Javed Latif. The younger Sharif was able to convince his elder brother Nawaz Sharif to seek an explanation from Javed Latif as to why he violated the ‘ethics and discipline’ of the party.
The bombshell hit the party’s efforts aimed at mending fences with the powers that be at the behest of some senior party members who have had enough of anti-establishment narrative and now desire the party to soften its stance.
It is widely believed that no party at odds with the establishment can rise to power, which is why an influential faction of PML-N leaders is eager to ensure the party becomes acceptable to the powers that be well ahead of the next general elections.
However, the issuance of the show-cause notice to Javed Latif has further exposed the infighting in the party ranks.
Pakistan People’s Party has already fallen for the bait. All the main parties and groups in the opposition are trying their best to be among the favourites of the establishment.
It seems the PTI has smelled the moods of realignments taking place in the political arena of the country. It will definitely launch a quest for its survival in the months and weeks ahead.
