Usman Buzdar is a rare breed of politicians; one who doesn’t mind anything, who doesn’t disobey any order, who doesn’t feel threatened by anyone, be it someone from his party or allies.
Where will Imran Khan find a minister with such a humble background, who does not have electricity in his hometown, who with an innocent face answers “YES” to every one of his orders related to the running of a province of the magnitude of Punjab?
Buzdar is a man who is content with what he has and who does not have any further ambitions to prove his worth.
So what if he isn’t able to capture a rapist even after 15 days of the incident, or if his government is still unable to bring Orange Line Metro on track…he will continue governing Punjab without any questions being asked from his Supremo.
Below are some of the points that make Buzdar the only choice for Imran Khan to rule Pakistan’s largest province:
Yes-man
With Buzdar on CM seat in Punjab, Imran Khan can take any decision and get it implemented within a few hours just by issuing orders from Islamabad.
Whether he has to shuffle Punjab’s cabinet, show the door to Chief Secretaries, replace IG Punjab one after another or appointing most controversial person as CCPO Lahore, Imran can get the job done through Buzdar, and above all CM Punjab will never ever feel the need to explain the reason for the changes.
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Imran Khan knows fully well that this man from South Punjab will not back bite against him, as he is such an innocent fellow who will only hear and not talk when it comes to discussing the PM and his decisions vis-a-vis Punjab.
Quelling dissent within PTI
PTI in Punjab is a bunch of hardcore party loyalists and turncoats from other parties. When Imran Khan had won the election in 2018 he had a daunting task to keep his Punjab lot in line, hence he settled for the unknown person like Buzdar to head province which in effect was the signal to his party’s cadre across the board that he will be in charge of the show while sitting in Islamabad.
From Chaudhary Sarwar to Aleem Khan to Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed to Ejaz Chaudhary to Fawad Chaudhary to Jahangir Tareen to Shah Mehmood Qureshi, all had to understood that their party’s chairman is in no mood to budge when it comes to ruling Punjab through his iron grip.
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Since then not a single party stalwart from the province has got the courage to challenge CMship of the rather unknown person of Usman Buzdar. Recently he has got himself embroiled in NAB cases as well – but things are still very much in favour for him despite PTI’s anti corruption mantra suffering with those cases coming into open.
Usman Buzdars calming effect on Q league
Chaudhary Shujaat and Chaudhary Pervez Elahi are ruling the roost in Gujranwala division under Buzdar government. Transfers of police officials, patwaris and other government officials from Gujrat to Gujranwala are being made at the whims of Chaudhary’s.
Pervez Elahi knows fully well that Buzdar is their best bet while being in coalition with PTI. Being a shrewd politician, Speaker Punjab Assembly has the understanding any other leader of PTI other than Buzdar as CM Punjab will make things troublesome for Q league.
With Buzdar at Punjab’s helm, Q league has the best chance to manage some lead in LB elections which needs to be held soon in the province.
Usman Buzdar: Son of a seraiki wasaib
Coming from South Punjab makes Buzdar a perfect political choice for Imran Khan to be CM Punjab. With him on provincial Chief Executive seat, the PTI Chairman has put a lid on the mouths of the likes of Shah Mehmood, Khusro Bakhtiar etc regarding non importance to Southern belt in provincial government set up.
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South Punjab secretariat is already in place and both Imran, Buzdar combined take credit for that – this step of PTI govt will also go long way in securing party’s vote bank in area.
Buzdar seems to be heading Punjab all the way till 2023, if nothing else, at least PTI’s electorate from South Punjab will be reminded that Imran Khan has given a person from the area a whole 5 years to rule Pakistan’s largest province.
The author is the former Senior Executive Producer Programming Geo News, with core interest in politics, media, and human rights issues. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.