ISLAMABAD/ LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday presided over a meeting of senior leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to work out a strategy to defeat the no-trust motion filed against him by the joint opposition. Speaking during the meeting, Prime Minister Khan said, “I know what they are going to do. They [opposition leaders] are all scared, due to which they have ganged up.”
“My plan is ready. I will tell them now how to do politics,” he said, hitting out at leaders of the three major opposition parties. Sources privy to the meeting said the huddle discussed a strategy to render the no-trust motion unsuccessful. Legal aspects of the motion and talks held with the PTI government allies, including PML-Q and MQM, over the past couple of days also came under discussion, they added.
Prime Minister Khan said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is “stable” and joint opposition will face defeat on all fronts. He said this was talking with Punjab Governor Chaudhary Muhammad Sarwar and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar who called on him here in Lahore.
During the meeting, the prime minister also tasked the Punjab governor and CM Buzdar to engage with Punjab MNAs and MPAs amid a no-confidence motion in Centre and a tense political situation in Punjab. On the occasion, matters pertaining to the political situation of the country, ongoing developmental projects and administrative matters of the province were also discussed.
Prime Minister Khan also met two provincial ministers, Sardar Asif Nakai and Samsam Bukhari, who were part of the Jahangir Tareen group. The prime minister during the meeting said that it was for the first time that development projects were launched across the Punjab province, contrary to the past when the entire budget was spent on particular cities.
“The government’s top priority is the development of cities which were neglected in the past,” PM Imran Khan said besides also discussing political development and uplift projects in the ministries of Sardar Asif Nakai and Samsam Bukhari. Cracks have emerged within the Jahangir Tareen group after Leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Jahangir Tareen group Khurram Laghari has rejected the minus-Usman Buzdar formula.
In a statement, Khurram Laghari said that the decision could be of a single person and not by all. “I stand with Chief Minister Usman Buzdar,” he said and added he does not support minus-Buzdar. Earlier today, Punjab Minister for Energy Akhtar Malik had refused to join hands with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Aleem Khan.
Sources familiar with the development said that three provincial lawmakers have has refused to join ranks of Aleem Khan. Akhtar Malik said that he would not leave the party during a difficult time. It is pertinent to mention here that more than 40 MPAs of PTI in the Punjab Assembly have expressed their full confidence in the leadership of Punjab CM Usman Buzdar. The Punjab CM said they are united against opposition and his doors are open for every MPA as he is chief executive of the province.