ISLAMABAD - The political crisis for the ruling PTI has deepened in Punjab with the disgruntled group of party lawmakers led by Jahangir Khan Tareen publicly coming up with the demand of “Minus Buzdar” formula and the Chaudhrys of Gujrat opposing any move of the group to get the province’s top position of chief executive.
The situation in the country’s largely populated province has become a catch-22 for Prime Minister Iman Khan at a time when the joint opposition has moved a no-trust motion in the National Assembly to oust him from power.
It is being believed that state of affairs in Punjab is now more challenging for the PTI than in the centre and the change in power corridors of the province looks visible while the fate of the no-confidence motion against the premier is still unknown.
PTI has to calm down an internal turmoil within the party in Punjab and has to offer estranged elements a better deal to keep intact its government in the province and in the centre. At the same time, PM Khan cannot afford to annoy its major ally — PML-Q — to ensure that it remains part of the coalition and votes against the no-trust motion.
The present political circumstances in Punjab have become very awkward and complicated for PM Khan and his close aides who are holding a flurry of meetings with the estranged lawmakers of the party and allies to defeat the no-confidence motion.
A day earlier, PM Khan had dispatched Governor Sindh Imran Ismail to Lahore for a meeting with senior PTI leader Abdul Aleem Khan after he joined hands with the disgruntled group of lawmakers of the party led by Tareen.
The situation unfolding after this meeting made it clear that Aleem is the prime contender for the slot of chief minister of Punjab. Some media reports also suggested that at least three ministers of PTI led by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak in a meeting proposed to the PML-Q leaders to replace Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar with Aleem Khan — an idea that was altogether rejected by Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and other leaders of his party.
The political developments taking place in Lahore and Islamabad suggest that any nominee of the chief executive of Punjab from Tareen group would not be acceptable for the Chaudhrys as Speaker Elahi himself is the aspirant for the position. The PML-Q leadership has also conveyed to PTI that CM Buzdar should stay in the position if Aleem has to become the next chief minister of the province. CM Buzdar separately has told the party leadership that he was ready to step down but Aleem would not be acceptable for him as his replacement.
At the same time, the Tareen group after an emergency meeting in Lahore has categorically said that their talks with the PTI would move forward only with the acceptance of the “Minus Buzdar” formula.
As part of his renewed efforts to woo the estranged lawmakers of the party, Prime Minister Imran Khan has also tasked Defence Minister Khattak and Foreign Affairs Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to make contacts with the Tareen group and hear their demands and reservations. But it is unclear if the move will be successful or not.
Some senior leaders and federal ministers of PTI in their close door meetings also support the idea of removal of CM Buzdar but PM Khan has reportedly rejected his offer to voluntarily step down in a move to maintain the status quo till a final deal is reached with the estranged group and PML-Q.
It is now clear that this strategy wouldn’t work for a long and PM Khan would have to take some tough decisions to win support of both disgruntled elements of the party and his allies to defeat the opposition’s efforts to dislodge the PTI government in the centre and in the Punjab and to resolve the present political crisis in the country.