The poor attendance at the first formal meeting of the Unification Bloc in Lahore on Friday should be a cause of concern for the PML(N) leadership as the party can barely maintain its majority in the Punjab Assembly. Former Opposition Leader Ch Zaheeruddin has already demanded that Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif take a fresh vote of confidence.
The PML(Q)s breakaway faction led by Dr Tahir Ali Javed comprises 47 members but only 22 of them were present at the meeting. That they decided not to seek representation in the provincial cabinet is quite understandable because the indications that only two of them would be allotted ministerial slots had already caused fissures within the Unification Bloc. The defectors serving as chairmen of various standing committees of the provincial legislature announced surrendering their offices in order to put more pressure on their leadership to stick to the decision of not joining the cabinet. But the fact that less than half of the members attended the first meeting, called to discuss policy matters, raises serious doubts about the group remaining intact for long. Though the defection clause will become operative only after the next general elections, those who abstained might have thought about avoiding a legal battle which may start soon as the PML(Q) contemplates taking the matter to the court. More than anybody else the PML(N) should be worried about this situation. Its leaderships claim that members of the Unification Bloc cannot return to the party from which they were elected because they would be contenders for PML(N) tickets in the next election has yet to stand the test of time.
By choosing the course of expediency over principles, the PML(N) leadership has violated the CoD which binds both parties to refrain from encouraging defections. What it needs to understand is that the decision to oust the PPP from the coalition and embrace the Unification Bloc was not only unnecessary but also carries risk for the party and the system.
