From Our Correspondent
LAHORE: PML-Q’s federal minister Tariq Bashir Cheema on Friday have claimed that a few of the PTI ministers have informed him that Prime Minister Imran Khan has given the approval for the removal of Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
Meanwhile, sources within PML-Q said that National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, federal ministers Asad Umar and Pervaiz Khattak consulted with PML-Q leaders Moonis Elahi and Cheema.
According to sources, Cheema said that the federal ministers claimed that PM Khan has agreed to remove Buzdar from the post.
“The ministers congratulated us and when we asked the reason for congratulations, they said that the premier has consented to a change in Punjab,” sources quoted Cheema as saying.
However, he said that the federal committee refused to give an early date for deciding Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s fate, sources said.
“We asked when, the ministers replied, ‘after the no-confidence motion in the Centre,’” Cheema told.
He criticised saying that how could PML-Q believe that the government would move towards a decision about Punjab after the failure of no-trust move in the Centre.
“Do they consider us a child,” he said as per sources.
Moreover, PML-Q, one of the key allies of ruling-PTI, is expected to reach a decision regarding the no-confidence motion submitted against PM Imran Khan in the next 48 hours, Cheema said Friday.
The decision, which will come after the longest period of consultations by a party on the political situation, would finally reveal on which side the PTI’s ally is because the uncertainty about whether the government’s coalition parties would support it continues.
He said that the pressure regarding the decision is increasing on his party.
Cheema revealed that the Opposition has offered PML-Q the seat of Punjab chief minister but what the government offers them is a mere “lollipop.”
“PM Imran Khan should take matters seriously but he has deployed U-16 team in the field,” Cheema said.
Earlier, after a motion of no-confidence was submitted against PM Imran Khan in the National Assembly Secretariat, factions within the ruling PTI were angling for the ouster of Punjab CM Buzdar.
The two disgruntled groups of PTI — Tareen and Aleem Khan groups — united against Buzdar after the latter announced an affiliation with the former, aiming to “save” the party after “loyalists were sidelined” following PM Imran Khan’s rise to power.
A delegation of Jahangir Khan Tareen group led by Punjab provincial minister Nauman Langrial on Wednesday also met PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi at his residence, The News reported.
The delegation, comprising provincial minister Ajmal Cheema, Aun Chaudhry, Lala Tahir Randhawa, Abdul Hayyi Dasti, and Imran Shah, “engaged in detailed consultation” regarding the current political situation in Punjab at the meeting.
Elahi, who is also the speaker of the Punjab Assembly, agreed to continue contacts with the Tareen group for the “betterment” of the province and its people.
Moreover, Elahi inquired after Tareen, who is currently in London for medical treatment, and wished for his good health.
Meanwhile, Langrial raised the matter of submitting a no-trust motion against Buzdar in the provincial assembly secretariat. He stated that Punjab “had been destroyed” and the group would have to come to the fore in the interest of the people as they had decided to remove Buzdar.
He further called upon Elahi to support the Tareen group in this regard, expressing an intention to call on Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain soon.
