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Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi on Sunday endorsed the claims of his son, Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) leader Moonis, confirming that former Army chief Gen. (retd.) Qamar Javed Bajwa had urged his party to support the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at the time of the no-confidence move against Imran Khan.
During separate interviews with private broadcasters Bol News and GNN, Elahi said “God changed our [PMLQ] path at the last moment when we heading toward PMLN,” adding that Gen. (retd.) Bajwa had “showed us the way” to the PTI after telling them that Imran Khan’s party was a better fit. To a question, he said that both the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and PTI had offered alliances to the PMLQ and the party had opted for the PTI at the former Army chief’s urging. He also confirmed that Moonis had always preferred siding with the PTI.
On his differences with the PMLN, he claimed there was concerns of its leadership “lying” to the Chaudhries of Gujrat. “I was with the Sharifs for 18 years, they always lied to us,” he claimed. “I would [often] say the Sharifs won’t let me do anything for the province,” he said. “When we discussed with the institution [Army], they suggested thinking about what was better for us. We consult the institution when a situation arises,” he said, adding the institution [Army] had him the PTI was a “respectable and better option.”
To a question on whether this meant the PTI chief and Gen. (retd.) Bajwa had played a “double game” with the public by appearing to be at odds, Elahi claimed that they were victims of circumstance. He also said that his earlier comments about Khan—during which he had claimed the Army had done “everything” for the PTI chief—had been done in anger. “It damaged me as well,” he said.
Stay put in Punjab
Discussing the PTI’s threatened dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies within this month, the Punjab chief minister said this was unlikely to happen until March. “Talks are the best option right now,” he said, adding that dissolving the Punjab Assembly depends on how the center behaves with the provincial government. He said he had advised Khan to hold talks on electoral reforms and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) till March, adding that “I have told him to wait till he can walk once more, which should take about four more months.”
During his interview, the PMLQ leader said he had not been a fan of the tenure of PTI’s Usman Buzdar as Punjab chief minister, saying it had damaged the standing of both the party and its allies.
On the differences between the Punjab government and the PTI over lodging a first information report (FIR) on the attack on Imran Khan in Wazirabad, Elahi claimed this issued had been resolved. “We asked them to read the Constitution. We cannot register FIR against judges or Army officers of this level,” he added.