Following the exit of MQM-P from the ruling coalition, the government suffered another rude shock at the provincial level, as members of the Aleem Khan group refused to vote for the PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi – Prime Minister Imran Khan’s nominee for the Punjab chief minister. According to a statement issued by Aleem Khan, the members of the disgruntled group have decided not to vote for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Recalling the words Imran Khan earlier used for Elahi, the group’s spokesperson Khalid Mehmood said for the last four years, the PTI-led government had imposed “useless, dishonest and a coward” Usman Buzdar as the chief minister and “now they want to appoint Pervaiz Elahi”.
“This is unacceptable,” he said as the two disgruntled groups – Jahangir Tareen group and Aleem Khan group – convened a meeting to review the changing political situation in Punjab. Two days ago, a delegation of PTI had met the top brass of PML-Q where PM Imran Khan offered Elahi the position of chief minister in place of Buzdar. Khalid Mahmood said he could not even repeat the insulting names Prime Minister Imran Khan used to refer to Elahi with. He said the Aleem Khan faction would not dare repeat the mistakes of the past, says a news report. He questioned if none of the 184 PTI workers, who had helped Imran Khan achieve his dream of a Naya Pakistan, was capable of becoming the chief minister. “Every sincere member of PTI has objected to Pervaiz Elahi becoming the chief minister of Punjab,” he claimed. “Surprised to know that Pervaiz Elahi will now be making a Naya Pakistan. If he was capable of it, why was there even a need to create PTI; Elahi had already been in politics for the past 42 years,” the PTI leader said. He said Aleem Khan group would support the opposition for the no-trust move unconditionally. “Today, when it came to saving the government, you nominated a person you called a thief and robber as the chief minister of Punjab,” he said while referring to PM Imran.