Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said Tuesday Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif could not convince his brother, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, to be on board over
accepting PML-Q, a private TV channel reported.
“We tread very carefully with them (PML-N) and the people who matter in the party were not on board. For example, Maryam Nawaz did not like the proposition. Her group was not ready to hand over everything [in Punjab] to a party that has seven to 10 seats,” he told a private TV channel. The PML-Q leader said that despite Shahbaz’s own stature, he could not convince people who mattered in his party and, at the same time, when the PML-N and PPP were sending their proposals, the PTI was also giving them “serious” offers. “Prime Minister Imran Khan had himself called me and told me that he was waiting for me at Bani Gala – where the matter was settled. Even today, I met the prime minister, and he told me that his party gave a response about me,” Elahi said. Elahi further said that he had suggested to the prime minister to offer the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the governorship of Sindh to MQM-P – in a bid to garner their support for foiling the no-confidence motion. The speaker of the Punjab Assembly said that he had spoken to Defence Minister Pervez Khattak, and he had also assured him that the MQM-P was on board.