Elahi Has Become The Clown-King In Circus Of Politics

What we witnessed between Wednesday evening and Thursday early morning was a circus in the deepest sense of the word. And no surprises here, for we have allowed the clowns to consistently play out this silly act, ignore rules of the political game and undermine the ground on which our morals and values rest. We are fools. Worse, we have allowed the clowns to fool us.

Let’s not lie or pretend, the acts put up by men representing all camps, dressed in black or blue and displaying the symbolic victory sign (for what, really?), was no less than a comedy of buffoons played out inside the Punjab Assembly. It ended with Chief Minister Parvez Elahi winning the confidence of 186 members, and becoming the Clown King. He thanked the PTI and PML-Q for helping him secure the majority.

In the thick of fog and darkness of late night, two PTI MPAs, Amer Chandia emerged apparently from Rahim Yar Khan and Ammar Yasir from Chakwal to enable the ruling coalition to complete the count of 186 votes.

Punjab Governor called the vote of confidence last month. The Lahore High Court gave Elahi 24 hours to secure the required number of votes to remain the chief minister.

The PML-N bigwigs watched proceedings from the gallery. Their party members created ruckus on the floor, and accused the ruling coalition of bulldozing the vote. Atta Tarrar said that not allowing polling agents to be appointed was evidence of an unfair vote.

It’ll be interesting to see how Parvez Elahi and Imran Khan strategise the next game. Will Elahi dissolve the Punjab Assembly as is desired by Khan? What is certain for now is that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-N) will be setting the trend of politics in the country.

“PML-N has been sidelined,” says senior analyst Nusrat Javeed.

Elahi’s vote of confidence has further weakened Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The absence of Hamza Shehbaz, leader of the opposition in Punjab Assembly, from the circus was indeed ominous. It was reflective of a party in absolute disorder. It showed that the PML-N is more interested in saving Hamza from accountability, courts, and convictions – and content with the government in the centre, even if weak and rudderless.

For now the circus is on… Imran Khan, waiting on the boundary, will play a disruptive political game, as “he has nothing to lose,” says Javeed, unless, of course, Elahi surprises him and scuttles his ambition of dissolution of the assembly.

Meanwhile, fools will continue to be fooled. Their rotis will shrink in numbers and size. They will have nothing to keep them snug and warm in the cold winter, and no light to see through the surrounding darkness.

For now, the Lahore High Court considers if the issue regarding the vote of confidence has been settled. It must decide if the governor’s notification was legal.

Let’s hope he who laughs last may not laugh the longest.