THURSDAY witnessed three separate but interrelated developments which have the possibility to reshape the course of political events in the country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif easily secured the vote of confidence from the National Assembly obtaining respectable 180 votes (as against the required 172); the Government and the PTI representatives met at the Parliament House to discuss ways and means to resolve the ongoing conflict; and the three member bench of the Supreme Court hearing suo motu case relating to polls in Punjab adopted a reconciliatory approach after repeated assertions by parliament to defend itself against any intrusion into its constitutional domain.
In fact, there was never any doubt that the Prime Minister continues to enjoy the confidence of the majority in the lower house but the decision to secure the vote of confidence was taken after casual observations made by the three-member bench of the apex court during the hearing of the election case. A question was raised that NA’s rejection of the cabinet summary about release of Rs. 21 billion for elections of the Punjab Assembly could be an indication that the Prime Minister no longer commands the confidence of the majority whereas he is required to command confidence of the majority for all times. The observation was not backed by the ground realities as there were no rifts among coalition partners and rejection of the summary was, in fact, tacit approval of what the cabinet actually wanted the house to do. However, the Prime Minister, by securing the trust vote, pre-empted any adverse move by the apex court on this issue as was evident from the SC’s warning of ‘serious consequences’. The fact that all the coalition partners were present in the house in full strength during voting on the motion is reflection of their continued unity and that they have unanimous views on the prevailing environment. Contrary to the false observation made by former Information Minister and central leader of the PTI Fawad Chaudhry that the tally also included votes of dissident members of the party (and therefore, the Prime Minister actually obtained 160 votes, which are less than those required under the law), all 180 votes were those of the coalition partners while the opposition did not participate in the voting. However, the opposition leader also extended his heartiest congratulations to the Prime Minister after he obtained the vote of confidence which showed the leader of the house also had informal support and sympathy of those sitting on the opposition benches. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has a point in celebrating his victory in the process as he had secured 174 votes from the house when he was chosen as Prime Minister on April 11 last year. It was in this backdrop that he delivered a hard-hitting speech after obtaining the vote of confidence vowing he would not shatter the confidence of the House, reposed in him again, and always stand by the decisions taken by its members. He said the government and parliament should be allowed to perform their responsibilities which they are supposed to do. The regained confidence of the PM was also highlighted in a tweet where he asserted “Coalition politics is a unique experience in Pakistan’s democratic evolution. We are united in strengthening Parliament and saying no to politics of diktat.” Otherwise too, Shehbaz Sharif is known for his reconciliatory politics and how to keep the coalition partners along. He pays due attention to the reservations of his allies as was also witnessed by his accommodative approach during a meeting with a delegation of MQM-P on Thursday assuring redressal of grievances of the party on the census issue. As for the Supreme Court, it must be given credit for softening its stance for the sake of the country as the two sides have begun the process of dialogue. The court’s repeated emphasis on talks and some controversial remarks gave an excuse to parliament to complain of dictation on political issues but observations made by the Chief Justice of Pakistan on Thursday did the damage control. Nothing can be said with certainty about the final outcome of the talks but the first round was held in a pleasant atmosphere. PTI was asked to present its demands while the government side explained it had no demands as such. There are, however, fundamental differences of approach to the process of dialogue with the PTI adamant on its demand for immediate elections whereas the coalition government wants a general election on the same date but either in October or November this year. If elections were to be held on the same date, then there is logic in the proposition that they should be held on completion of the constitutional term of the present assemblies.
