The PML-N-led Punjab government is facing no immediate threat at the moment as the new coalition partners – the PPP and PML-Q – have decided to wait for the return of PML-Q dissident leaders (the Unification Block) back into the party’s fold to form a simple majority against the PML-N in Punjab. Sources within the opposition alliance in the Punjab Assembly told Pakistan Today that the PPP-PML-Q leadership that met to finalise the power-sharing formula also discussed in detail the pros and cons of “acting” against the PML-N and decided to give a free hand to the PML-N government in Punjab for the time being “to commit more administrative blunders” that would help the coalition partners win over the masses.
Moreover, to avoid any unexpected setback before going through the ordeal of finance bill’s passage by the National Assembly in the upcoming annual budget, both parties chose to delay the brawl in Punjab. Party insiders said despite having strong pressure from provincial leaders of both parties to topple the Shahbaz Sharif government, the PPP and PML-Q top leadership realised that they did not have sufficient numbers to table a “no-confidence motion” against the Punjab chief minister.
They said the inclusion of the PML-Q in the federal cabinet had made it possible for the joint opposition in Punjab Assembly and coalition partners in the federal government to offer lucrative incentives to PML-Q dissidents, who left the party just to get benefits from the PML-N. The sources said more than 20 members of the Unification Bloc in the Punjab Assembly had attempted to re-establish contacts with the PML-Q after the formation of the PPP-PML-Q alliance and conveyed their willingness to return to the PML-Q.
The sources said the immediate task given to the PML-Q and PPP provincial leaders was to win over Unification Bloc members in the Punjab Assembly, so that Shahbaz’s government could not defend a potential “no-confidence move”. On the other hand, Unification Bloc leaders said they were sticking with their stance of extending unconditional support to the PML-N government. They said their bloc was intact and the reports of fissures among their ranks were propaganda by opponents. In the developing situation, critics said the Shahbaz Sharif government had no imminent threat and the joint opposition in the Punjab Assembly should invent another war plan.
