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Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) leader Moonis Elahi—the son of Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi—on Thursday alleged that former Army chief Gen. (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa had advised them to support the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) when opposition parties tabled a no-confidence motion against then-prime minister Imran Khan.
In an interview with HUM News anchor Mehar Bokhari, Elahi lamented that the PTI had launched an abusive campaign against the former Army chief despite all the support he had provided them during his time in office. “Certain elements are busy on social media bashing Bajwa sahib without any reason,” he said. “This is the same Bajwa who changed the course of rivers for the PTI. Then he [Bajwa] was right, but now he is not. I have a total disagreement with those who are now talking against him,” he said, reiterating that the PTI had no issue with Bajwa when he was publicly supporting them but was now describing him as a traitor.
“I’ve asked PTI office-bearers to sit with me on TV and prove that he is a traitor,” he said, adding that he would then show them exactly what Bajwa had done for them.
Acknowledging that the PMLQ had been courted by both the PTI and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) ahead of the vote of no-confidence, he said the party’s decision to side with Imran Khan’s party had come due to Bajwa’s support. “He [Bajwa] said ‘it is my wish that you side with them [PTI],’” he said of a conversation he had with the former Army chief. “Had Bajwa been bad, why would he have asked us to side with PTI at that critical juncture? He only had to give a signal at that point and we would have gone the other way,” he said, stressing that he did not agree with the narrative that Bajwa had ever been anti-PTI.
To a question, he said there was “no doubt” that the former Chief of Army Staff had fully supported the PTI. He said he had personally been inclined to side with the PTI, but it was only after his discussion with Gen. Bajwa and the senior PTI leadership that the party had decided to go with Imran Khan.
To questions on the “neutrality” of the establishment, the PMLQ leader said the judiciary had already established its neutrality, while he believed the military’s “apolitical” claims because it had not attempted to influence the Punjab government in any way. To another question, he said the PMLQ did not currently have any contact with the new Army leadership.
During his interview, Elahi was also questioned on Khan’s decision to dissolve the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. He said that his party believed general elections should be held as soon as possible to utilize the present popularity of Khan. “This is favorable for both the PTI and its allies,” he added.