September 08, 2008	Monday	Ramazan 07, 1429

LAHORE, Sept 7: The gulf between the PPP and the PML-N has widened after the presidential election and the former is determined to dislodge the Shahbaz Sharif government and forge an alliance with the PML-Q to rule the province.The PML-N, on the other hand, is confident that it will be able to thwart all plans against it because it has the support of majority in the Punjab Assembly.

Sources close to Governor Salman Taseer told Dawn on Sunday: “The Punjab government is not safe at all; their support line is very thin.”

The sources said that the number of votes secured by the PML-N’s presidential candidate in the Punjab Assembly showed that the party had only 15 votes more than the simple majority of 186 legislators. The PML-N had 177 members of its own while the rest had come from the PML-Q.“In such a situation, if the PPP parts ways with the PML-N and the governor … asks the chief minister to seek a vote of confidence from the house, he will not be able to show his majority.”

The sources said PML-Q dissidents would not be allowed to vote for the chief minister, and those doing so in violation of the party discipline would face disqualification references.

The sources alleged that the PML-N leaders had been trying to make inroads into the PML-Q to secure their position in Punjab. “Such moves are not acceptable, not tolerable”.

Governor Salman Taseer told this correspondent that the PML-N leaders were without a solid majority. “Their plans have come crashing down. If I use my powers, the government will collapse.”

He said: “If they want to coexist in a peaceful way (with the PPP), well and good. Otherwise, they’ll be in trouble”.

The PML-N sources said they were ready to face all challenges. They said if the PPP ministers did not quit the cabinet, the chief minister could use his powers to dislodge them.