ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided against giving the office of Punjab chief minister to Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi — leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), a key but minority party in the ruling coalition — in return for his support to the prime minister during the no-trust vote.
Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak told Moonis Elahi, Pervaiz’s son and Minister for Water Resources, the party, with its 10 seats in the provincial legislature and 10 MPs, is free to join the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) if the latter is indeed offering it the same.
In an interview to HUM News on Tuesday, Pervaiz, who is also the speaker of the Punjab Assembly, claimed he has already been offered the post as well as an electoral alliance, including seat-to-seat adjustment, by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) but the government has yet to make that offer to him.
With only 10 seats in the provincial assembly, the demand by the Chaundhrys of Gujrat was blackmailing, Khattak said.
The minister also said the comments by Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema, also a PML-Q leader, were an insult to the PTI.
“If it were someone other than Cheema, he would have resigned from the cabinet before making such remarks,” he said.
Khattak further told PML-Q blackmailing your allies during the testings times wasn’t appropriate.
It merits mention here that amid the ongoing political situation, Pervaiz has said that the members of the ruling coalition are “100 percent” leaning towards the opposition.
It is Imran Khan’s responsibility to reverse the trend, said Pervaiz.
The Punjab Assembly speaker claimed there is a lack of wisdom in the government and further expressed they were approached by all parties, except the government.
Pervaiz said all parties except the government have made their offers, adding that decisions taken by the government in panic are coming to the fore.
First, the government and then the opposition should cancel the announcement of public gatherings, added Pervez.
