Federal Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi assured on Thursday National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser that PML-Q was an ally of the government and would stand by it in any political situation as it had confidence in the leadership abilities of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The minister belonging to PTI’s only coalition partner in the Centre and Punjab also cleared the air on opposition parties’ back-to-back meetings with PML-Q leadership, saying his party has not assured support to any opposition party on their no-confidence move against the premier.
The assurance from Moonis, son of Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, has come days after he 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.
In a telephonic conversation with the NA speaker, Moonis said that “his party was an ally of the government and would stand by it in any political situation”.
The official statement attributed to the PML-Q leader noted that “his party had not assured any party of the opposition to support their non-trust move against PM Imran Khan”.
Clarifying speculations making rounds following opposition parties’ meetings with PML-Q leadership, Moonis said that “meetings of PLM-Q leaders with the opposition leaders were being misinterpreted and that they were part of a political process.”
During the phone call, Moonis told Qaiser that the economic indicators were positive and the country was politically and economically stable, saying “his party had confidence in the leadership abilities of Prime Minister Imran Khan.”
Acknowledging the positive role of PML-Q leadership in national politics, Qaiser said the party had always taken decisions in the best national interest. He said that all political parties needed to work together to steer the country out of the challenges it was facing.
The speaker said that the country was on the path of development due to the economic policies of the present government led by PM Imran, adding that stability of democratic institutions in the country was essential for the progress and prosperity of the country. He said the premier had led the country on the path of economic development.
The statement noted that Moonis and Qaiser also discussed the current economic and political situation in the country besides issues of mutual interest during the call.
In less than two weeks, Moonis has poured cold water twice on the opposition parties’ hopes, who have been trying their best for roping in PML-Q in its efforts to zeroing in on the no-trust motion.
On both the occasions, Moonis left little to imagination about where PML-Q stands and, have, apparently, forced the opposition to come up with something else than merely relying on the government allies.
Apart from wooing the government allies, the opposition has been banking its support on the ruling party’s lawmakers that they would revolt against their party and support the opposition on no-confidence motion.
However, only time will tell if they would get any support from PTI MNAs or are left-red faced at the last minute as the opposition itself admits that the lawmakers were waiting for a signal from “State” – a tacit reference to establishment – before abandoning their party.
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