EDITORIAL / by Ansar Bhatti
The opposition parties in the Punjab Assembly have submitted the no trust motion against incumbent Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. 126 signed the motion. A 20 percent of the total members of the Assembly can submit a no-trust motion, which means the opposition needed only 74 members to submit this motion. It was an expected move. It may be called a preemptive move as well since the Punjab chief minister was said to have prepared a draft for the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly. Even the media on March 28 ran news regarding the dissolution of the Punjab Assembly. The Punjab chief minister, writing of this piece, was still in Islamabad to discuss pros and cons of the dissolution of the assembly. However, the opposition moved rather quickly and submitted the motion. Now, the chief minister cannot send advice to the Punjab governor for the dissolution of the assembly.
The chief minister Punjab, from the outset, was in trouble as nobody even from his own party had accepted him as the chief minister. There was a consensus within the party as well that as long as he remains the chief minister, the party would remain in the dock. Many party people believed, with a weak chief minister it was simply impossible to deliver the goods. Probably that was the reason that the Jehangir Tareen group openly decided to go against Usman Buzdar. Tareen group mutiny encouraged the opposition parties to gird up their loins against Buzdar and now things have come to such a pass that removal of the chief minister has become certain. Critics, both from within and without the party, often criticize the prime minister for not paying heed to the simmering crisis in the Punjab, which now has turned into a volcano. Prime Minister’s unnecessary backing in fact led the events to reach a point of no return.
After the no trust move, the opposition parties have intensified their contacts with one another. Speaker Punjab Assembly Ch. Pervez Elahi has emerged as a strong candidate for the chief minister post provided he is able to get support of the Tareen group. PML N hitherto has some reservations on the candidature of Ch. Pervez Elahi.
Unlike, the PTI can still grapple with the situation by asking Buzdar to resign and nominating somebody else. But even in that case the PTI nominee will have to seek a vote of confidence, which would be difficult if the opposition and the Tareen group don’t support the move. In a nutshell, PTI has landed itself in serious trouble in Punjab; only a miracle can save the Buzdar regime.
