Editorial
The opposition parties in the Punjab Assembly had submitted the no trust motion against incumbent Chief Minister Usman Buzdar. 126 members 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. But the very next day Usman Buzdar was asked to step down to pave the way for Ch. Pervez Elahi, the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly. In his meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, Ch. Pervez Elahi was approved for the chief minister slot. Thus, Pervez Elahi is set to become the Chief Minister of Punjab provided everything goes well. There are still certain hiccups in the way of Ch. Pervez Elahi that need to be overcome before he starts enjoying the chief ministership.
There are Tareen and Aleem Khan groups who from the face of it appear to be on the side of Ch. Pervez Elahi. However, their support will come with certain conditions and demands. Both of them would ask for a greater share in the Punjab cabinet. Even they can demand the speakership of the Punjab Assembly. For PML Q it was indeed a miracle to grab chief minister slot with only seven seats in the assembly. The PTI, in the beginning, was not ready accede to this demand of PML Q but after no trust move submitted by the opposition parties; Imran Khan and company had to accept Pervez Elahi as the new chief minister. Since PML Q has only a few seats in the Punjab Assembly therefore position of the Chief Minister will always remain vulnerable. And perhaps PML Q too has a clear understanding of this fact. It thinks if it is able to hold the fort for next one and half years, it can strengthen its foothold in Punjab politics by giving incentives to masses.
The chief minister Punjab Usman Buzdar, 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 things came to such a pass that removal of the chief minister became inevitable.
