PML-Q decides to part ways with PTI

Party’s parliamentarians say it has become difficult for partnership to continue

LAHORE:

The PML-Q, a key ally of the PTI in the Centre and Punjab, on Sunday decided that it was parting ways with the ruling party and launching its campaign for the next general elections – after rising tensions between the two coalition partners finally gave way.

The announcement was made after a meeting of the PML-Q’s parliamentary party held under the chair of its Punjab president, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, who is also the speaker of the provincial assembly.

All parliamentarians of the party had empowered the PML-Q’s Punjab chief to decide the fate of its alliance with the government.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers Tariq Bashir Cheema and Moonis Elahi, Senator Kamil Ali Agha, MNAs Salik Hussain, Hussain Elahi, Mrs Farrukh Khan, provincial ministers Hafiz Ammar Yasir, Bao Rizwan, Punjab MPAs Sajid Ahmad Khan Bhatti, Abdullah Yousaf Warriach, Dr Muhammad Afzal, Ehsan ul Haq Chaudhry, Shujaar Nawaz Ajlana, Khadija Umar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa MPA Mufti Ubaidur Rehman and party leader Shafay Hussain.

The PML-Q leaders expressed their concern over the unprecedented increase in the prices of petroleum products and energy tariff as well as the depreciation of the local currency.

They also criticised the PTI government for its failure to rein in crimes and high level of unemployment in the country.

The party’s parliamentarians noted that the people were facing great difficulties in making ends meet because of the “negligence” of the government.

In this bleak situation, how public representatives would face their voters in their constituencies in upcoming general elections, they added.

The parliamentarians maintained that they had cooperated with the ruling PTI and extended all possible support to it. However, they added, it had now become difficult for the PML-Q to continue its partnership with the PTI.

The PML-Q leaders said instead of solving basic public issues, the government was making issues out of “non-issues” and sprinkling salt over people’s wounds.

They underlined that if the government did not pay heed to basic public issues, including inflation and unemployment, the situation would worsen in the country.

A day earlier, the PML-Q had already indicated to go against the PTI over “mistreatment of its workers” in Punjab and for “not being included in the decision-making process”.

“We have been supporting them [the government] in the Centre and Punjab for the past three years but the provincial government is mistreating our workers in every district,” Elahi said while chairing a meeting of the party’s central committee on Saturday.

Elahi announced convening a PML-Q parliamentary party meeting on Sunday in which a unanimous decision will be taken on the future course of action.

In September, PML-Q leader and Federal Water Resources Minister Moonis Elahi met PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the latter’s residence in Karachi -- a meeting that is indicative of the two parties’ alliance in the future.

This was the third meeting between the top leadership of PPP, an opposition party, and the PML-Q, a coalition partner of the ruling PTI in Centre and in Punjab, in the past few months.

In August last year, the PML-Q had decided to meet with the leadership of the PTI to take up the issue of “unfulfilled promises”.

Later in November the same year, the PML-Q not only skipped a luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Imran Khan but also accused the ruling party of never trying to address coalition partner’s grievances in the last two years.

Suggesting that the coalition partner was apparently of no value to the PTI government, PML-Q’s Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema minced no words in expressing his party’s concerns, saying that the only relation between the two parties was of voting for government.

Cheema, while expressing his views on the media, went on to say that the PML-Q was there whenever PTI needed its votes and assistance in the past two years but “unfortunately either PTI doesn’t want to consult with anyone or it doesn’t consider us worthy of it.”

The relationship between the two partners was shaky to start with, and now it has reached its logical conclusion.

The opposition parties have already teamed up under the banner of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and announced that they would take to the streets against the government.

Now the coalition partners of the incumbent government have started jumping the ship ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Recently, the PML-Q and MQM-P had indicated their reservations over the proposal to use electronic voting machines (EVMs) in the upcoming general elections.