–PML-Q’s Pervaiz Elahi says ruling party should honour promises made to coalition partners
–Questions PTI’s formation of three new committees to engage with allies
–Says those who had promised creation of South Punjab province used narrative for electoral gains only
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) senior leader and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Friday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) should refrain from treating its allies as its “second wife”, revealing growing divide in the ruling coalition led by PTI.
The PML-Q leader said this while speaking to a delegation of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) led by its president and Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami. He said that his party has always supported its partners in good faith but the coalition partners must not be considered unimportant.
“The government should not consider its allies as its competitors and should honour the promises it made when it formed an alliance with them. We had different experiences as allies with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and PTI. Our best alliance was with PPP because former president Asif Ali Zardari did more than he promised,” he said.
“PTI did not fulfill its promises. They told us that we would have total control over the affairs of four constituencies we had won from,” he added.
Without naming anyone, he said that those who had promised the creation of a south Punjab province to the Saraiki people had not been honest with them as they only used the narrative for electoral gains.
He wondered why the government constituted new committees to keep liaison with allies when the previous one was making progress. “The government should take into confidence its allies, and stand firm on the fact that we are together, out problems and losses are the same,” he said.
“If the government suffers a loss, it will have a ripple effect and have the same impact on us,” he said, adding that PML-Q had been an ally of the PTI since 2013.
“We participated in the 2013 protest sit-in of PTI and Pakistan Awami Tehreek and played an active role in keeping Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri together,” he said.
The PML-Q leader also said that his party wants the government to complete its tenure.
Elahi also said that the coalition partners have asked the government to amend the Local Government Act because Punjab cannot be governed like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as there were drastic differences between the two.
“The administrative expenses would increase manifold with the formation of village councils,” he said.
He further said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has successfully highlighted the humanitarian crisis in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) at a global level.
Commenting on the deadlock between the centre and provincial government over the issue of Sindh Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Kaleem Imam, he said that the police chief not only opposed Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah but went on to hold press conferences against him. “There should be strict action against such an official,” he added.
The PML-Q leader said that currently his party is waiting and hoping for things to change for the better. “With that said, our party’s goal is to establish peace in the country and to provide justice to all,” he added.
He further said that the media has an important role to play in the development of the country and it should guide the government. “I assure you that PML-Q stands for the freedom of the press and if anyone tries to gag the media, we will stand with the media workers,” he added.
Elahi said that the media played an important role in the war on terror and it also played a significant role in informing the people about their rights.
Paying tribute to the CPNE, he said that today the media is free in Pakistan because of the council’s tireless efforts.
Meanwhile, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi also took to Twitter to comment on the constitution of a new committee to hold talks with the allies. “We were making excellent progress with earlier committee comprising of @JahangirKTareen @PervezKhattakPK and @ShahzadArbab1. Why is @pti out to self sabotage itself ??” he tweeted.
We were making excellent progress with earlier committee comprising of @JahangirKTareen @PervezKhattakPK and @ShahzadArbab1 . Why is @pti out to self sabotage itself ??
— Moonis Elahi (@MoonisElahi6) January 31, 2020
On Thursday, the prime minister formed three new committees under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Pervez Khattak to resolve differences with allies.
The committee tasked to liaise with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) includes Asad Umar, Imran Ismail, Firdous Shamim Naqvi and Haleem Adil Sheikh as its members.
The committee to liaise with PML-Q includes Chaudhary Mohammad Sarwar, Sardar Usman Buzdar and Shafqat Mahmood.
Meanwhile, Pervez Khattak, Qasim Suri and Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali will liaise with the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP), Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP).
On Thursday, MQM-P Deputy Convener Amir Khan had said that his party will not rejoin the federal cabinet till all their grievances are addressed.
Khan said that they do not need ministries, adding that the most important issue for them is the resolution of issues being faced by the urban areas of the province.
Earlier on Jan 24, MQM-P had said that the Centre had promised funds to them for the urban areas of the Sindh province and any future decision would be taken after receiving them.
