Bilawal's bait to MQM-P may start a new game of chairs.

LAHORE -- At a time when the country needs highest level of stability to be able to deal with multiple problems facing it, the PPP chairman has come up with an idea which, if materialised, will cause much destabilisation, something that will please only the enemy - India.

The idea, which may be categorised as a political mischief, is a 'bait' offered to the MQM-P that it leave the PTI-led coalition and take as many ministries in the Sindh cabinet (two) as it has at the centre.

Whether the bait is accepted or not will be clear in the days ahead; but ostensibly, it is most ill-timed, lacking any positive intentions.

The PPP chairman, a political novice whose only qualification for this post is that he belongs to a family that has ruled the country, appears unaware of the dangerous situation the country is passing through.

'Bring down, bring down...bring Imran's government down and save Karachi,' the charismatic and eloquent PPP chief has been quoted as saying at a ceremony in Karachi.

Amid loud cheering from the audience, he said: 'We will support you one hundred percent. For the sake of the people of Karachi, we are ready to provide an equal number of ministries [in Sindh] to the MQM but the [only] condition is that it sends Imran packing.'

Efforts to destabilise govt to be a great disservice

As things stand, the PTI does not enjoy a simple majority in the 342-strong National Assembly. For attaining the required number - 172 - for government formation it had to take the MQM-P and some other parties on board in the coalition.

The PTI has 156 MNAs, seven of the MQM-P, five each of the Pakistan Muslim League-Q and the Balochistan Awami Party, four of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, three of the Grand Democratic Alliance and one each of Sheikh Rashid's Awami Muslim League and Jamhoori Watan Party.

The total strength of the PTI-led coalition in the lower house is 182, only ten more than the required strength.

If the MQM-P decides to accept the PPP chairman's offer, the PTI government will not fall, but its razor thin majority will make the setup more vulnerable.

And if a few more legislators part ways with the PTI for whatever reasons (the possibility of which cannot be ruled out because of our culture) the incumbent government will lose majority and will be left with no option but to step down.

This will trigger a new game of chairs in the country. Can the country afford this at a time when there is a serious threat from the enemy India...

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