Banners favouring Pervaiz Elahi as CM Punjab emerge in Lahore

Punjab is helpless, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as chief minister is a necessity, the posters say

LAHORE:

As the political temperature rises in the country, pictures of posters and banners showing Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as a candidate for the provincial chief minister's slot emerged on social media on Wednesday.

According to Express, the posters have appeared as the government is trying to win over the coalition parties who have expressed their reservations over Punjab’s current chief executive Usman Buzdar.

The posters were first spotted outside PML-Q’s headquarters and can now be seen on Lahore’s major thoroughfares.

“Punjab is helpless, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as chief minister is a necessity,” the poster reads.

Earlier, the senior PML-Q leader said Prime Minister Imran Khan was “100%” in trouble because of the no-confidence motion against him.

In an interview with a private news channel, the PML-Q leader – a major ally of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at the Centre and in Punjab – criticised the prime minister, saying that he had a desire for revenge, which was not the way to govern.

Read More: Opposition’s plan destined to fail, says CM Buzdar

“Imran Khan is 100% in trouble, as all allies are on the opposition side,” Elahi said. “The government 100% lacks wisdom and understanding. The prime minister has a great desire for revenge, which ios evident from the fact that he puts everyone in NAB [National Accountability Bureau]. There are no such ways to govern,” he added.

Elahi said that when Moonis Elahi delivered his speech, “we started receiving threats from NAB”. “There are a lot of inexperience people among the rulers,” he said. “They should have learned first. If they come down, they would learn,” he added. “The government is under threat from its own people.”

Elahi termed the opposition alliance among the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) “strong and lasting”, saying: “When opponents are united against one person, bitterness among them is forgotten.”

The Punjab Assembly speaker backed the opposition’s claim that it had more votes than the number required for the success of the no-confidence motion. “The opposition is right to say that they have more people. And ‘surprises’ have yet to come,” the former Punjab chief minister said.