The PPP Central Executive Committee took the first decision of the process of government formation by deciding not to decide. The decision to support the PML(N) from the outside, of not taking any ministries while supporting the PML(N) candidate for Prime Minister, did meet the minimum requirement of making sure that the PTI-backed independents did not form the government, and at the same time ensured that the PPP would not have to be part of what was being called ‘PDM 2.0’, in which the PPP entered a PML(N) Cabinet. As the PML(N) had greater numbers, even if the PPP had taken the PMship, or a majority of Cabinet members, it would still have been the junior partner in the coalition. By implication, the PPP’s desire to stay away from the government indicates that it felt it had been damaged by the previous stint in government, when it had left the economic ministries to the PML(N), and also that it does not expect the PML(N) to do well this time around.
By refusing to take positions in the Cabinet, the PPP has not given up hopes of such slots as the National Assembly Speaker and the Senate Chairman. That was made clear by PPP co-Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the post-CEC press briefing, thus indicating that the PPP still intends to extract its pound of flesh from the PML(N) for its support. One of the elements of Mr Bhutto Zardari’s press conference was his noting that no one had been in touch from the PTI side, thus shedding light on one of the main disadvantages the PTI has suffered because of the imprisonment of its chief, Imran Khan: it has no one able to speak for it. It also seems the PPP has given up on the dream of getting co-Chairman Asif Zardari elected to the Presidency, leaving it open to the PML(N) to offer that position to JUI(F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who is said to want the job.
It seems that the PPP has opted for the path which many have advocated, of going into the opposition. It also gives the PPP the option of bringing down the PML(N) government whenever it wants by withdrawing support. The PPP has played its role in government formation, but what it has done does not seem to have led towards the political stability that all desire.
