Daily Times

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to set up a disciplinary committee for the MPAs who called on Prime Minister Imran Khan at his Bani Gala residence a couple of days back without the consent of the party leadership. The disciplinary committee will listen to the grievances of the disgruntled lawmakers before taking any action against them, it has been learnt. The fate of the MPAs who called on the prime minister will be decided by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and supreme leader Nawaz Sharif.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claims that 15 MPAs of PML-N called on the prime minister while some over two dozen are also in contact with the party. The PML-N Punjab chapter convened a hurriedly called meeting of the advisory committee of the party on Monday in Model Town, chaired by Punjab Assembly former speaker and senior lawmaker Rana Iqbal. The meeting was originally supposed to be chaired by PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah who was coming to Lahore but was arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Force at the motorway.

PML-N Deputy Secretary General Attaullah Tarar, who was also present in the meeting, said the actual number of MPAs who called on the prime minister is not 15 as, he said, most of the lawmakers have themselves refuted the claims of the government. There are only six MPAs who went to Bani Gala for the resolution of problems of their constituencies and they are still part of the PML-N, he said. “Mian Jalil Sharaqpuri from Sheikhupura, Maulana Gehyas ud Din from Narowal, Nishat Daha and Faisal Niazi from Khanewal and Azhar Chandia met the prime minister,” Tarar said, who is considered to be very close to Hamza Shehbaz. “We have decided to listen to the grievances of the MPAs individually and the final decision will be made by the party president,” he added.

The meeting was also attended by PML-N lawmakers Malik Ahmad Khan, Samiullah Khan, Malik Nadeem Kamran and Kh Imran Nazir. Party sources told Daily Times that the arrest of Rana Sanaullah is a calculated move of the government as he was supposed to play a key role in persuading the disgruntled MPAs of the party at the meeting. “If there could have been any person outside the Sharif family who could play a role in handling the defection saga, it is Rana Sanaullah,” source said. It is pertinent to mention here that the PML-N has strong presence in Punjab with 166 MPAs on the opposition benches. PTI is little ahead with 181 MPAs in the House. Earlier, a lawmaker from the opposition party admitted that he and nine other MPAs met the prime minister on Saturday. Mian Jaleel Ahmed Sharaqpuri told a private TV channel that he had submitted an individual request to meet the prime minister earlier in June. He was finally allotted a time on Saturday morning. “When I reached Bani Gala, nine other MPAs of the PML-N were also present in the room. One was also from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Majority of the lawmakers in attendance were from Multan and other parts of South Punjab,” he said. Besides prime minister, Punajb governor and chief minister and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Naeem-ul-Haque were present. Haque was tasked to note down the lawmakers’ grievances, he noted.