PPP sought PTI's help to keep PML-N out of power in Punjab: lawmaker

ISLAMABAD: In a twisted turn of events, a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) MP claimed that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) approached her with a proposition to keep Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) out of office, "especially in Punjab".

The PPP -- which, with its 56 lawmakers, is the second-largest party in the coalition ruling in the Centre -- was pivotal in the tabling, and subsequent success, of the vote of no-confidence in then-prime minister Imran Khan.

Following Khan's ouster and the formation of the government by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) component parties, the PPP initially refused to sit in the cabinet and instead demanded constitutional offices like the Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker, but later changed its mind and took a lion's share of portfolios, including the speaker office.

It also helped PML-N in getting its vice president Hamza Shehbaz elected chief minister of Punjab in a contentious election.

Following the events, Syed Talat Hussain, a journalist, claimed that shortly before the voting on the no-confidence motion, Khan had approached PPP through business tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain, requesting it to not support the vote but the party refused.

بریکنگ: ابھی ابھی خبر ملی ہے کہ عمران خان نے اپنے دوست ملک ریاض کو تحریک عدم اعتماد پر ووٹنگ سے قبل آصف زرداری کے پاس بھیجا اور ووٹنگ کا حصہ نا بننے کی درخواست کی (یعنی NRO)۔ آصف زرداری نے صاف انکار کر دیا۔😳

— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) April 23, 2022

Refuting the statement on the journalist's political chat show, Shandana Gulzar Khan said it was in fact PPP which sought PTI's help.

"I want to put this on the record [...] you've your sources [and] I have mine [...] I was approached on behalf of Peoples Party [...] by certain quarters [...] suggesting that PTI will only succeed if the PPP throws its weight behind the PTI," she said.

پیپلز پارٹی نے عمران خان سے ن لیگ کو پنجاب میں حکومت سے باہر رکھنے اور اس سے پہلے عدم اعتماد کے معاملے پر رابطہ کیا، شاندانا خان pic.twitter.com/K3Le6inp8P

— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) April 25, 2022

"So [Imran] Khan must put his ego aside [sic] and work with the Peoples Party."

A gobsmacked Hussain asked if the MP was speaking in the context of the trust vote or the present scenario. "Both," Gulzar responded.

"These people [PPP] don't want PML-N in power, especially in Punjab," she said before adding that PPP's wheeling and dealing with the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) in the run-up to the trust vote was part of the plan to target PML-N.

"I still have the text messages, received on April 9, saved in my phone and I can share those with you."