PTI unable to break ice in talks with PML-Q

Govt delegation also meets MQM-P leadership in Islamabad

LAHORE:

In its ramped up efforts to salvage the apparently waning support to survive the no-confidence motion, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders on Saturday held crucial meetings with PML-Q and MQM-P.
A government delegation led by federal ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Pervez Khattak met with PML-Q leader and Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi to discuss the no-trust move.

Sources said the efforts of the government negotiation committee went in vain because the PML-Q leadership left the decision to vote on the no-confidence motion for the last day.

PTI and PML-Q meeting. PHOTO: EXPRESS

They said the government team could not melt the ice in the talks with the PML-Q leadership. Qureshi and Khattak made all efforts but all their explanations were in vain as the PML-Q did not give any clear message.

According to a statement, the federal ministers conveyed PM Imran Khan’s message to the PML-Q leadership. Matters of mutual interest, the current political situation in the country and solutions related to various issues being faced by the government’s ally were discussed in the meeting.

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PML-Q’s Tariq Bashir Cheema informed the federal ministers about the issues the party faced during the past three and half years. FM Qureshi told the participants of the meeting that PM Imran will be updated about the talks. In the meantime, Pervez Elahi will take Shujaat Hussain into confidence over the negotiations.

Responding to a question after the meeting, FM Qureshi termed the meeting "very positive", saying, “By the grace of Allah, I have never returned empty-handed”. The two sides agreed that the next meeting will be held soon in Islamabad.

PTI leaders Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Defense Minister Pervez Khattak. PHOTO: EXPRESS

'Govt ignored allies'

However, sources revealed that during the meeting, PML-Q leader Elahi complained of being “ignored” by the government despite being a key ally of the ruling party. Similarly, Tariq Bashir Cheema lamented that the government viewed its own allies as “opposition”.

In addition, federal ministers and PTI leaders also met with a delegation of Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan in Islamabad on Saturday. The government delegation met MQM-P Barrister Faroogh Naseem, Amin-ul-Haque, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Khwaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, Amir Khan and Waseem Akhtar.‘No early drop scene’

Separately, in an informal gathering with journalists, the speaker of Punjab Assembly said that the time for a “drop scene in the political drama” had not arrived, as the “actors” will change. Without sharing specifics, the PML-Q leader, who has not taken a clear stance as yet, said that for now the “dish has been cooked”, of which half has already been distributed and the other half is being handed out.

In a tacit reference to the prime minister, Elahi said that those who bring religion into politics have no future in the field. In response to a question, he said that the “medicine for the illness of those sitting outside Pakistan has yet to come”. He further said that holding public rallies in Islamabad will have no effect on the vote of no-confidence.

PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi. PHOTO: EXPRESS