LAHORE: Opposition parties’ negotiations with the PTI government allies have entered the “final phase”, with the joint opposition hoping the ruling coalition will break “in a matter of days, if not hours”.

Cracks within the coalition government also appeared visible on Saturday after Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and Federal Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi traded barbs, with Mr Ahmed taking a veiled swipe at the PML-Q and accusing it of “blackmailing” the government in return for support during the opposition’s no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Our parleys with government allies, especially the PML-Q, MQM-P and BAP, have entered the final phase. It is just a matter of days, if not hours, that they quit the coalition and join us,” a senior PML-N leader who is part of the talks with the allies told Dawn on Saturday.

He said the allies had made up their minds to part ways with Imran Khan, but “certain modalities” were being worked out between the two sides.

Govt-allied parties seeking ‘reliable guarantors’

“The allies think they are in a better position to dictate terms to the opposition, as the latter doesn’t feel confident about banking on dissenting PTI MNAs alone to oust the premier,” he said. “The allies have become more relevant for the opposition after the government openly declared that National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser will not count the votes of PTI dissidents during the no-confidence vote.”

Another insider in the opposition said the allies were keen to have some “reliable guarantors” in its dealings with the joint opposition.

“In the past, guarantors from the powers that be would come forward and seal such deals. But now the allies are wary of inking an agreement with the opposition parties without having such guarantors due to a huge trust deficit,” he said.

PM to meet Parvez Elahi

On the other hand, PM Khan is making a last-ditch effort to keep allies loyal to the government. In this regard, he is likely to see PML-Q senior leader Chau­dhry Parvez Elahi on Sunday (today).

The PML-Q has already asked the prime minister to announce Mr Elahi as Punjab’s chief minister in place of the incumbent Usman Buzdar before calling the National Assembly session on the no-trust motion in the face of a “rebellion” by the ruling party’s Jahangir Tareen group.

“If the premier does not announce Mr Elahi as the party’s candidate for the Punjab CM slot on Sunday, it would mean he is certain to lose his important ally,” the source says.

Both the PML-Q and MQM-P have reportedly conveyed to the premier that they had offers of the Punjab chief minister and Sindh governor slots from the opposition, besides other post-polls arrangements, if they jumped ships.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2022