PML-N MPAs’ meeting with PM: Some deny, some confirm

LAHORE: Some Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MPAs from Punjab denied meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan at Banigala while many others confirmed their meeting with the premier.

On Saturday, as many as 15 PML-N MPAs called on Prime Minister Imran Khan in Banigala and reposed confidence in the leadership of Imran Khan. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar was also present in the meeting.

PML-N leader Riaz Pirzada rubbished such reports as he said that he could not forsake his leader Nawaz Sharif in such tiring circumstances. The members of provincial assembly including Ashraf Ansari, Qasim Hunjra and Ataur Rehman also denied the meeting with PM Imran Khan.

MNA Riaz Pirzada asserted that Nawaz Sharif is their leader and how they can leave the party at this crucial time. MPA Ashraf Ansari said he is with PML-N and he will remain with the PML-N, adding that his elder brother Younas Ansari met PM Imran Khan. He said Younas is not a part of the PML-N and he contested elections on the Jeep symbol. Malik Qasim Hunjra said he did not meet the PM, however, accepted that he met Punjab CM often. MPA Ataur Rehman said why they should meet PM when they are a part of PML-N.

PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah said this is just a tactic to divert the public anger over the soaring inflation. He said only three or four names have surfaced in this regard and they will be held accountable. On the other hand, Younas Ansari has claimed that 15 MPAs and five MNAs of PML-N met PM Imran under his leadership, adding that his brother Ashraf Ansari was not part of the meeting.

Meanwhile, confirming hismeeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan, a PML-N MPA Mian Jaleel Ahmed Sharaqpuri said it was his democratic right to discuss his constituency’s issues with the premier.

Talking to media, Sharaqpuri said the prime minister assured of resolving problems in the area. He said the premier did not ask him to join the PTI. To a question, he asked, “With whom should I meet to get people’s problems resolved instead of the prime minister and chief minister”?

Sharaqpuri said the PML-N’s manifesto did not refrain him from meeting with the PM and thanked Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for arranging the meeting.

Meanwhile, Punjab Governor Ch Muhammad Sarwar said that no member of Parliament from the opposition parties needs to tender resignation for a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan because there is no bar on the members to see the premier after developing differences with policies of their party.

He expressed these views while talking to the media on Sunday at Expo Centre Lahore. “It is true if a member of Parliament joins another party without tendering resignation, he can be disqualified under the Constitution but there is no bar in the law and the constitution in meeting anyone,” Sarwar said.

To a question, the governor declined to comment about formation of a forward block in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), saying that the PML-N itself knows how many members of Parliament have differences with them over their policies.

“The difference of opinion is beauty of political parties and if PML-N MPAs are not satisfied with its policies and think policies of Imran Khan can pull the country out of crises and put it on the road to progress, then what is harm if they call on the premier, ” he explained. “When there are problems in the country, ultimately disappointment comes in the public. But despite that people have faith in the leadership of Imran Khan and are not ready to come on roads on the call of opposition parties because they know it well that the premier will pull the country out of crises and put it on track of progress,” the governor said.

Meanwhile, Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry claimed that the "opposition is breaking" amid speculation of a rift between party president Shahbaz Sharif and his niece, vice-president Maryam Nawaz.

Although the PML-N has rejected reports of a 1.5-hour-long meeting between the prime minister and 15 PML-N MPAs at Banigala on Saturday, and denied speculation of a rift between its leadership, the rumours persist ostensibly due to the lack of agreement by opposition party leaders on a concrete and comprehensive anti-government strategy despite three meetings being called to discuss the same.

Chaudhry addressed a press conference in Islamabad on Sunday in which he noted that although Pakistan is starting to see some 'good news', the opposition is not. "In all this, you can see that the opposition is breaking. It's a strange thing? what is good for Pakistan is bad news for the opposition," he claimed.

Touching upon the alleged cracks in PML-N ranks, Chaudhry claimed that Shahbaz Sharif "was never a leader of the opposition, a leader during crisis, which is why we have seen that whenever there is such a crisis situation, he is easily sidelined and leaves the country".

Chaudhry then accused Maryam Nawaz of taking "full advantage of this" and launching "a stealthy attack" on Shahbaz's leadership and stealing it from him, in an apparent reference to the duo's public differences of opinion over a proposed charter of economy.

He claimed that since the rise in disagreements within the party, a narrative had emerged that the PML-N was under Maryam's thumb. "The state of his [Shahbaz'] leadership is such that no one in the party even asks him his opinion on anything," he alleged.

The minister said it could be gauged from the fact that senior PML-N leader Khawaja Asif had thumped his desk in approval as Shahbaz spoke about the charter of economy in the National Assembly, but later appeared to backtrack and show support instead for Maryam's stance by rejecting the charter, saying, "What Maryam said is absolutely right as per the policy of PML-N".

"This shows he [Shahbaz] has no grip on the party," Chaudhry said, adding that because Shahbaz historically is known to extricate himself from sticky situations and doesn't stand up for the party during crisis, "then naturally that's why Maryam Nawaz has stepped forward and chosen the party narrative".

The minister speculated that the dissatisfaction of PML-N MPAs was due to Maryam's politics. "Now these people who are leaving them [PML-N], they went last night [to see the PM]. Of course, this is the first episode; the real picture will emerge later. Why are they leaving? Because they are aware of Maryam Nawaz's political acumen," the minister alleged.

"Where are those who used to listen to Maryam Nawaz?" he asked, referring to Daniyal Aziz and Tallal Chaudhry, two less-seasoned members of the top PML-N cadre who had assumed a great deal of visibility during the Panama Papers trial.

"People place their trust on ground realities, and the ground reality is that there is a war brewing the PML-N over leadership, and moreover, among the incompetent members of the family," Chaudhry claimed.

Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk

PML-N MPAs’ meeting with PM: Some deny, some confirm

Courtesy www.thenews.com.pk

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