Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar is not being removed from his position, Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz said Thursday amid reports circulating of his dismissal.
A local TV channel, on a source-based report, had aired news that the chief minister is being removed.
Faraz, taking to twitter, said that Buzdar is "going nowhere".
"All speculations regarding his departure are mala fide and baseless," the information minister said.
Earlier, in January, Prime Minister Imran Khan had outright refused to remove CM Buzdar, saying he knew who the conspirator behind the CM Punjab fiasco is, sources informed Geo News.
The sources added that while addressing a meeting of the PTI members of the Punjab Assembly, PM Imran said Buzdar would remain the Punjab CM and he will not be removed at any cost.
The prime minister added that he knew who was creating the controversy to oust Buzdar and that the conspirator wanted the post for himself.
The chief minister controversy had brought discord not only among the coalition parties but in the ruling PTI as well.
Punjab Information Minister Fayyaz ul Hasan Chohan had said he could "only lament" Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudry's criticism of Buzdar’s governance.
Chohan had said Chaudhry was "keeping himself above discipline [in his] attitude and behaviour", which was "very destructive to any party, institution, group or family". Chaudhry "tries to be a hero" every month, he had added.
Earlier, in a meeting of the PTI's core committee, the science minister had lashed out at Buzdar over the latter's “failure to deliver”. He had also reportedly informed the premier that of the Rs350 billion allocated for Punjab's development projects, the provincial government had only utilised Rs77 billion.
Sources had informed Geo News that Chaudhry also accused the Punjab government of not disbursing the finance commission award to the districts. In response to the accusations, the premier directed the provincial government to release the award, the sources had added.
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