Pakistan Muslim League-Qaid (PML-Q) president and veteran politician Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Wednesday reiterated his support for his cousin Chaudhry Pervez Elahi in the upcoming Punjab chief minister’s election.
The elections will be held on July 22.
It is noteworthy that Shujaat is allying with the ruling coalition at the Center and his son Chaudhry Salik Hussain is a member of Shahbaz Sharif’s cabinet.
In a policy statement issued by the PML-Q, Shujaat said Elahi was the party’s candidate for the top post, adding that “those who have won the mandate have the right to rule”.
PML-Q president told that he had made similar statement Many times in the past too.
in response to reports After PPP co-chair Asif Ali Zardari asked Shujaat to write a letter instructing PML-Q lawmakers not to vote for Elahi, Shujaat said there was “no question” of issuing the letter. was.
“I don’t need to explain. The solution to the country’s problems lies in not participating in the counting cycle. [votes]Referring to the election of the Chief Minister, he said.
Shujaat said in his statement, “Whoever will be successful in solving the problems of the poor, must have fulfilled their marks in the true sense.”
“Those who are elected must serve the people.”
Shujaat said that the solution to the country’s problems is to either allow the current government to last for a year or more till the general elections or hold fresh elections.
The election of the Chief Minister of Punjab will be held on July 22.
after the Supreme Court Decision That the votes of defectors would not be counted in the election of prime minister or chief minister and that after the resignation of two PML-N MPAs, the incumbent Chief Minister Hamza Shahbaz lost his majority in the 371-strong house.
He is sure to lose his office from Elahi after failing to win 11 seats to secure a majority in the Punjab Assembly, where the United Opposition (PTI and PML-Q) now has 188 members after the recent by-elections.
PTI-PML-Q meeting
Separately, PTI’s Vice President Shah Mehmood Qureshi and PML-Q’s Chaudhry Parvez Elahi met on Wednesday to discuss re-election.
According to a statement issued later, former Punjab Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema, Mahmudur Rashid and recently elected MPs also attended the meeting.
Elahi noted that the united opposition had a majority in the Punjab Assembly and vowed to “defeat every attempt to kidnap or harass the MPA”.
For his part, Qureshi said the majority in the provincial assembly stood with PTI president Imran Khan and his nominee.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Lahore, Qureshi clarified that his son Zain Qureshi was not the speaker of Punjab Assembly or the chief ministerial candidate, the party had already nominated Elahi as a candidate for the post of provincial chief executive. .
He also emphasized that PTI has the necessary strength of MPs to elect a new Chief Minister.
Coalition vows to ‘save’ Punjab government
The top leadership of the ruling coalition a day ago got together Resolve to save the Punjab government at any cost, for an ‘introspection’ in Lahore and to declare the next general elections after the completion of the term of the current assembly by August 2023.
Coalition allies put their weight behind Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in launching a ‘concerted effort’ and exploring all possible ways to save his son Hamza’s office of Punjab chief minister from PTI-PML-Q joint candidate Elahi.
Leaders of the main coalition parties – PML-N, PPP and JUI-F – asked PM Shahbaz to raise his socks and, no matter what, Punjab should not be handed over to PTI-PML-Q without a hard fight. Hamza should not resign. The alliance will find ways to retain him as CM at all costs,” the source quoted a participant of the meeting as saying.
Separately, Zardari of the PPP met Shujaat at his residence in Lahore and reportedly sought his help to save Hamza in the election.
Shujaat’s son Salik Hussain and PML-Q leader Tariq Bashir are part of Cheema Shahbaz’s cabinet.
The PML-Q has 10 MPs in the Punjab Assembly and Zardari reportedly asked Shujaat to join the ruling coalition.