Defense Minister Khawaja Asif maintained on Monday that there would be “definitely” change in Punjab, but denied Chief Minister Pervez Elahi’s closeness to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN).
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is seeking to oust Chief Minister Elahi, “The alleged dacoit of Imran Khan must be ousted,” he told reporters during a press conference in Lahore.
Ruling out the possibility of power-sharing with PML-Q and CM Elahi’s vote of confidence, the minister said: “I have no idea about the power-sharing formula. The Punjab government has full votes. Why can’t we take a vote of confidence? I am sure we have many people in the assembly.
The political environment in Punjab has been volatile for the past several months with the allies — Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) — and the opposition continuing to pit against each other.
According to sources, PTI has decided not to take a vote of confidence in the Punjab Assembly session on January 9 after the input of the legal minds of the party. He has planned to seek an opinion from the court.
Chief Minister Elahi has also rejected taking a vote of confidence in the Punjab Assembly. Defected PTI lawmaker Nasir Khan Musazai – whose guest house was attacked with a hand grenade last night – also revealed that the chief minister was not in favor of dissolving the Punjab Assembly.
In response to a question regarding the elections, Asif said that the elections will be held on time.
Criticizing PTI Chairman Imran Khan, the Defense Minister said that people are disappointed after the PTI chief was exposed.
Khawaja Asif said that people are looking for new parties and new shelters because when the graph of the party goes down, they often join new groups.
Last week it was reported that PTI defectors are preparing to form a new political party and have started talks.
According to the sources, there is a possibility of joining the new party of some prominent politicians of Central and South Punjab. He said that people of Jahangir Tareen, Aleem Khan and Chaudhry Sarwar group are being contacted.
However, Aun Chaudhry and Aleem rejected the news of forming a new political party.
While talking to journalists, Asif also commented on the internal party politics of PML-N regarding the appointment of Maryam Nawaz as senior vice president.
“It was a good [decision] to appoint Maryam as the party organizer,” he said, adding that PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s return was not conditional.
It was earlier reported that some senior party leaders were “upset” over the decision.
A senior PML-N leader told JEE News on condition of anonymity that “this decision is undemocratic and is aimed at advancing the political dynasty of the Sharifs”. He revealed that hardly any senior leader outside the Sharif family was consulted before taking the decision.
