A Matter of Control

The Punjab remains the staging ground for differences — even among allies

Lahore is no longer the unquestionable bastion of the PML-N. The PTI created a massive dent in the party’s popularity graph, witnessed during the recent elections. Now the major issue before the PTI is to maintain its own popularity until the next elections, and they want the PML-Q, their political partner in the Punjab, to execute their policies in this regard. Their political alliance notwithstanding, the PML-Q and PTI leadership have a clear realisation of the existing gulf between the two parties. Strategies are thus being evolved to bridge their differences.

The PTI and PML-Q are sailing in the same boat in the Punjab — but with different agendas. The PTI being the major stakeholder in this partnership wants its policies to be fully implemented, but the PML-Q has its own plans. PTI Chairman Imran Khan wants to control Punjab from Banigala as he did when Usman Buzdar was Chief Minister. but Ch Pervaiz Elahi is not ready to be a puppet Chief Minister. Currently, Imran Khan is not pleased with the manner in which the Punjab government is moving forward. And in a meeting with Ch Pervaiz Elahi and Ch Moonis Elahi he expressed his disappointment about the state of affairs in the Punjab.

The meeting was followed by a tweet from PTI stalwart Fawad Chaudhary which clearly reflects Imran Khan’s expectations from the Punjab and other provincial governments.  The tweet says, “I want to make clear to our provincial governments that people have not voted for the PTI to make you ministers. Whether it is the issue of manoeuvres to arrest Imran Khan, or the arrest and torture of Shahbaz Gill and other PTI activists, you have disappointed our workers. Those ruling the 25-kilometre territory of Islamabad have turned into goons.”

In his tweet Fawad Ch conveyed to the Punjab government the expectations Imran Khan harbours. Additionally, there are several other areas in which the PTI feels it is being ignored and marginalised in the Punjab.

Insiders maintain  that Imran Khan also has strong reservations about assorted decisions taken by Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi. The decision to appoint Muhammad Khan Bhatti as principal secretary to the CM, for example, raised many eyebrows within the PTI. The party is also annoyed about the decision of awarding Gujrat the status of a division, with Mandi Bahauddin and Hafizabad as its districts, without consulting them. This will benefit the Chaudharis, but damage the PTI politically. The Bhattis of Hafizabad, led by Shaukat Bhatti, the only PTI MNA from Hafizabad, strongly protested this move before Imran Khan. Meanwhile, the  PTI leadership from Sialkot wanted the city to be declared as the divisional headquarters, instead of Gujrat. The announcement from the CM Secretariat about the allocation of Rs 30 billion in additional funds for the development of Gujrat district and Rs 10 billion for Mandi Bahauddin district added fuel to the fire. PML-Q members had won in a majority from these two districts. PTI members are further miffed because they have been denied development on the pretext of a paucity of funds. The eagle-eyed focus of the Chaudharis on the development of Gujrat and the comparative lack of it on the rain-hit, flood-devastated areas of DG Khan where the PTI has a strong presence, was particularly noted by Imran Khan. He sent Pervez Khattak to Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi to take up the issue and to push him to announce a comprehensive relief package for the flood-stricken people in South Punjab.

In almost all of his public addresses, Khan has vowed that he will not spare officers responsible for torturing innocent workers of the PTI on May 25. But since the formation of the coalition government in the Punjab, Pervaiz Elahi had been delaying action against the offending officers, presumably succumbing to pressure from the senior bureaucracy. Further more, Imran Khan was not pleased with the transfers and postings of senior bureaucrats at the Chief minister’s behest,  without any consultation with the provincial PTI hierarchy.

These are the major factors responsible for creating a gulf between the PTI and the PML-Q.

Insiders disclose that it has been conveyed in no uncertain terms to Pervaiz Elahi that the PTI cannot cruise along with any government which does not implement or execute its plans and policies. This message was clearly conveyed by Imran Khan himself, and other PTI leaders to the Chaudharis.

And the threat from the PTI leadership seems to have worked. This is visible in the recent softened stance of the PML-Q on a number of issues. Among these, work has been started and lists are being sorted out for initiating action against the police officers responsible for arresting and torturing PTI workers on May 25. Chief Secretary Punjab Kamran Ali Afzal has been sent to South Punjab to visit the rain and flood-hit areas and make an assessment of the losses incurred, so that the effected people can be compensated. But the most  significant development perhaps, is the registration of anti-terrorism cases against Interior Minister Rana Sana Ullah and other PML-N leaders.

There was immense pressure from the PTI leadership upon the Punjab CM for the registration of an FIR against Rana Sanaullah after the federal government registered cases against Imran Khan and Shahbaz Gill. Moreover, the PTI leadership considered Interior Minister Rana Sana responsible for unleashing torture on peaceful PTI workers. Earlier, Chaudhry Pervaiz was resisting this pressure from the PTI because he did not want confrontation with the federal government. In fact, he has always been opposed to the PTI’s politics of confrontation with the establishment. Finally, however, he told the PTI hierarchy in the Punjab that he would follow the line taken by the KP government on this issue. True to his word, immediately after PTI leader Khurram Amin Gandapur had an FIR registered in Peshawer against Rana Sanaullah and other PML-N leaders, the Punjab government registered cases against the Interior Minister in Gujrat and elsewhere. The tweet from Moonis Elahi pertaining to the registration of FIR against Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah is clear evidence that the PML-Q has started accommodating the PTI’s policies in the Punjab.

Applications have also been submitted in different police Stations in Lahore for registration of cases against Maryam Nawaz, Nawaz Sharif and other PML-N leaders for targeting the country’s institutions, including the army. Raids are being conducted at the residences of PML-N leaders, the majority of whom are either sitting in Islamabad or have moved abroad.

Sources claim that the PML-Q has also agreed to give the PTI a share in deciding transfers and postings. In this regard, the PTI has constituted a four-member committee which will give the CM its recommendations, before officers are posted in the Punjab.

However, insiders contend that there are some red lines Pervaiz Elahi will not cross at any cost. They maintain he might accommodate the PTI’s political demands, but will not become part of any campaign against the institutions. Pervaiz Elahi and Moonis Elahi have reportedly conveyed as much to the PTI leadership, asking it to refrain from targeting institutions. This is the only grey area the Chaudhris do not want to enter at any cost.