PML-Q to boycott new committee

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) will have no truck with a new three-member committee formed by Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold talks with it and has demanded to replace the previous panel of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

“Message from us is loud and clear: We will not talk to the new forum comprising Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and Federal Minister Shafqat Mahmood,” prominent PML-Q leader Chaudhry Moonis Elahi told The News when contacted. He said that first the promises and commitments made by the earlier committee consisting of senior PTI leader Jehangir Tareen and Defence Minister Pervez Khattak will have to be fulfilled. Only then, the PML-Q will talk to the new body, he announced.

The PML-Q insiders believe that by constituting the new committee, the PTI has cut Tareen to size by excluding him from it. They feel that it is the internal strife of the PTI that has led to this change, but the PML-Q has nothing to do with it as it is their problem. They say that the harmony built by Tareen and Khattak with the PML-Q has been sabotaged. They alluded to certain PTI leaders for creating a new situation. The insiders said that the PML-Q was trying to save the coalition from collapse, but some elements are out to rock it for their own reasons. According to them, a top PML-Q leader has talked to Tareen, who is currently abroad. The PTI leader told him that he was not aware of the new development and would know about it on his return in a couple of days. They said that it was publicly known that some members of the new committee were opposed to Tareen due to PTI’s internal politics, who tried to remove him from negotiations with the PML-Q.

After a public show of grudge by the PML-Q and boycott of federal cabinet meeting by its lone minister in protest, the prime minister assigned the task of removing its grievances to Tareen and Khattak. They held talks with the PML-Q and largely took care of its complaints and improved the relations. The PML-Q wants that postings and transfers of administration officials should be made in the districts of Gujrat, Mandi Bahauddin and Bahawalpur where its candidates won in the 2018 general elections. Tareen and Khattak agreed to it and the PML-Q started expressing satisfaction over the progress. Its estrangement aggravated when the prime minister during his recent visit to Lahore did not bother to meet the top PML-Q leadership.

Our correspondent adds from Lahore: PML-Q President and former prime minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain has said Imran Khan faces no threat from his allies but from his own people. “We regard Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as our colleague and they should also consider us as their colleagues, and not an enemy.”

While responding to various media questions, he said: “we are not only colleagues but also know it well how to endure it.” Ch Shujaat said: “Allies always believe in unity and equality; our party is, no doubt, small but are more experienced as we have ruled the country with a two-thirds majority.” The PML-Q chief said Ch Pervaiz Elahi, Tariq Bashir Cheema, Moonis Elahi or any worker or leader of the party could give a statement that reflects the truth and patriotism. However, he added, some “friends” interpret it wrongly and show those video clips to Imran Khan for their vested interests.

In reply to a question about a case, filed by Shahbaz Sharif against a newspaper in a London court, he said we would see for how long Shahbaz Sharif pursues the case. He said when UK's most influential newspaper The Guardian published a wrong news item against the PML-Q. “We had filed a case in the Queen's Bench of London High Court against The Guardian through prominent lawyers of Pakistan Ejaz Batalvi and Mahmood A Shaikh, which was heard for three months and we won that case. Later, the newspaper published an apology on its front page prominently.

Asked about Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid's statement about Shahbaz Sharif, an impression is being created that Shahbaz Sharif has links with the establishment, Ch Shujaat said whosoever gets any position in the party or leaves it, should be remember that N-League's vote bank belongs to Nawaz Sharif’s, and Shahbaz Sharif is zero before Nawaz Sharif even today.