- PTI, PML-N and PPP’s separate conclaves
The July 25 general elections generated inevitable allegations of rigging and started the usual emotionally charged blame-game. In the heat of the moment, the sore losers, especially those belonging to religious-minded MMA grouping, no doubt stunned at their sudden loss of ministerial power, perks and privileges in one fell blow, started full-throated talk about street agitation, transparent re-elections, and of their elected members abstaining from taking oath. Cooler and saner heads prevailed, and the threat of a no-show in various assemblies was swiftly nipped in the bud both by PML-N and PPP, leaving the MMA isolated and licking its wounds alone. Apart from the earlier hype regarding aliens and angels, the main post-election drama centred on the suspicious Great Crash in Results Transmission System on Election Day, and its aftermath, the ongoing feud between the two leading protagonists, Election Commission of Pakistan and National Database and Registration Authority, to fix responsibility of the debacle by rigorous forensic examination.
The multi-party conference (MPC), a convenient political fiction riven by internal differences, in its Sunday Islamabad meeting, while reportedly agreeing on Shahbaz Sharif as its PM candidate, is still unclear about the Speaker and Deputy Speaker and its overall joint strategy, with the PPP opting to sit in opposition in the pivotal Punjab province, thereby denying the PML-N any chance of an (unlikely) surprise upset. The Punjab PPP is carrying out a post-mortem Monday on its election rout in central Punjab, where it could gain only one seat each in national and provincial assemblies, while the PML-N head Shahbaz Sharif is briefing his party’s Central Executive Committee on the party line and negotiations with MPC. But most importantly, the PTI parliamentary party, in its Islamabad caucus also on Monday, formally named Imran Khan as its nominee for the next PM, an unassailable fait accompli. The PML-N and PPP must learn to ‘grin and bear it’, while playing their strong opposition role in parliament, with youthful newcomers in general and Bilawal Bhutto in particular being afforded an excellent opportunity to sharpen their parliamentary skills. The focus should solely be on the next general elections.