Prime Minister Imran Khan has no trump card that can save his government. Like a drowning man, he is trying to clutch at straws. With every passing day, his options are getting limited.
With less than ten days left for the fateful counting of no-confidence votes, Mr Khan is desperately trying to woo back allies who have 20 seats in the National Assembly. Mr Khan failed to get the MQM’s grievances related to the establishment resolved when the PTI and those who matter were on the same page. It is beyond him now to oblige the party. What is more, it is easier for the MQM to resolve matters with the PPP which has fewer claims to Sindh’s urban constituencies than with the PTI, which is the MQM’s main competitor there
Foreign Minister  Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak dashed to Lahore to meet the PML(Q) leadership on Saturday. There was no joint presser, indicating the failure of the mission. While the PTI duo remained tight-lipped, Ch Pervez Elahi condemned the use of religion in politics, obviously referring to recourse to religious slogans by PM.       .
Despite ‘keeping doors to repentance open’ the Tareen group is unwilling to accept any offer other than the replacement of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, which the government is reluctant to concede Provincial ministers belonging to the Tareen group continue to boycott cabinet meetings. The group has announced it would not participate in Imran Khan’s rally today.
At a time when the PTI government is facing the most serious threat of its tenure, it looks odd on its part to bring to the National Assembly a constitutional amendment bill for creating South Punjab. This in fact is a ruse to attract eight dissidents out of a list of 14 who belong to Seraiki districts, as some of them pointed out.
On Saturday the PM addressed a well-attended and charged public meeting in Kamalia after similar ones in Swat and Mansehra. In all these rallies he told the entire nation to come out of their homes and stand with the ruling PTI. With government resources at its disposal, the PTI can bring tens of thousands to Islamabad. But Mr  Khan’s fate is going to be decided by 172 MNAs whom the opposition seems to have gathered. Mr Khan may call the Islamabad rally a referendum but it cannot save his government.
