ISLAMABAD – United against the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, members of the PML-Q unification bloc are divided over the race to get ministerial berths in case the PML-N expels the PPP from the provincial cabinet after February 23, the deadline given to the government to implement Nawaz Sharif’s 10-point agenda.
A source in the bloc told Pakistan Today that after being granted a separate parliamentary party status in the Punjab Assembly, the PML-Q dissident group was receiving signals from the provincial government that the PML-N was all set to say goodbye to PPP ministers in the provincial cabinet after the 23rd, as the party had concluded that the PPP’s central government had failed to fulfill its commitment regarding the implementation on the PML-N’s reforms agenda.
“If the PML-N’s central command decides to end the party’s alliance with the PPP and its ministers are shown the doors by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, the Unification Bloc could be offered a few ministerial berths in the provincial cabinet,” he said, adding that the PML-N’s offer to the Unification Bloc to join the Punjab cabinet could become a real bone of contention among the bloc’s members, as everyone would be eyeing the ministerial slots.
Dr Tahir Ali Javed, parliamentary leader of the Unification Bloc, advised PPP ministers to voluntarily quit the provincial cabinet before the PML-N expelled them. “The PML-N central command has so far given no signal to us that Shahbaz Sharif is going to expel PPP ministers from his cabinet, but as I see it, the unnatural coalition of the PPP and PML-N in Punjab is heading to its natural demise,” he added.
He said the PML-N had so far not asked the Unification Bloc to join the provincial cabinet in case the PPP is ousted from the Punjab government. “We are sitting on opposition benches, but will support Shahbaz if the PPP brought a vote of no confidence against him after being thrown out from the provincial cabinet,” he said, adding that the Unification Bloc was in no hurry to join the Punjab cabinet.
Asked if there were differences within the Unification Bloc over the issue, Javed said no bloc member had expressed his desire to become a minister, “but there would be some members of bloc yearning to get ministerial portfolios”. Javed also negated the impression that the race for ministerial berths could divide the bloc, saying “the matter, if needed, will be decided on merit and all members of the bloc follow discipline”.
