Moonis has to ‘please’ his boss: Abbasi

A day after PML-Q gave a thumbs down to the opposition’s endeavour to gain its cooperation against the government, former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday accused Moonis Elahi of “pleasing” Prime Minister Imran Khan with his assurance that PTI had nothing to panic about.

The PML-N leader said that PML-Q’s policy was dictated by its alignment with the ‘state’ – a tacit reference to “establishment” – and expressed confidence that the opposition can pull off the no-confidence motion without PML-Q provided that the ‘state’ remained neutral.

“Moonis Elahi is a federal minister and has to please his boss,” the PML-N stalwart told The Express Tribune, adding that, “PMLQ’s stated policy is that they are with the state”.

He said that PML-Q – PTI’s only ally in the Centre and Punjab – needed the opposition for its political survival. “The opposition can easily do the no-confidence without the PML0Q if the ‘state’ is neutral.”

The PML-N stalwart’s comments have come a day after water minister, who is also the son of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, delivered a potentially fatal blow to the opposition hopes of ousting the prime minister through a no-trust motion when he assured PM Imran that his party made the connection with PTI to make it last.

Moonis while addressing a ceremony in the presence of PM Imran on Monday dismissed the opposition’s efforts to muster support from the government’s coalition partners as a mere “circus” and clarified that, “we [PML-Q] are political people. It is our job to meet people.”

“What is important in this is that we as political people make connections; we have a connection with you and we made it to make it last," Moonis said on Monday, “so, it is my request that you tell the PTI in a firm way, 'aap ne ghabrana nahi hai' (you should not worry)".

Surprisingly, PML-Q has played down Moonis’ statement, saying “Gabhrana nahe hai could mean anything”. A key PML-Q leader did not comment further on the matter when asked if Moonis’ statement was the party’s official stance and if PML-Q has already decided that it would stand by the PTI government when the no-confidence motion is tabled.

Read PML-Q pours cold water on no-trust motion

Both Abbasi and Moonis’ comments have come on the heels of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif’s meeting with the PML-Q leadership – Elahi and his cousin Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain – at its residence in Lahore after 14 years as part of the efforts to muster support for the no-confidence motion against PM Imran.

Though the Chaudhry brothers told Shehbaz that the coming days were crucial and their party would make a decision after evaluating the situation, Elahi’s statement left a little to the imagination and sent a strong message to the opposition parties to bank their support on something else than just merely relying on the government’s coalition partners.

Meanwhile, Abbasi’s reference to the state’s involvement in political affairs is not new as he recently also claimed that over 22 MNAs belonging to the ruling PTI were willing to pedal into the folds of the opposition but would not do so as long as the “state” backed the incumbent government.

When asked what was keeping the lawmakers from making a final decision, Abbasi had said that the lawmakers were waiting for “clear signals” that there will be no pressure on them from the powers that be if they move ahead.

His statement snowballed into controversy and elicited a quick response from cabinet ministers as well as Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser, challenging the PML-N leadership to reveal the names of PTI members allegedly in contact with the opposition; that he hasn’t yet.

Moonis was asked to respond to Abbasi’s statement about pleasing PM but his reply did not come till the filing of the story.