ISLAMABAD: Amid a widening rift between the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, Pakis­tan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat on Monday extended an olive branch to his cousin Chaudhry Parvez Elahi asking him to put an end to differences.

At a press conference in Islamabad, Mr Shujaat, who was flanked by PML-Q leader Tariq Bashir Cheema, told media persons that “false narratives” were being spread regarding the split within the party. He added that those close to Mr Elahi — who became Punjab chief minister with the support of PTI — issued “false” statements.

The PML-Q leader talked in detail about the reasons that led to discord between him and Mr Elahi. He, however, called for the reunion of the party that has split into two camps following the rift over the election of the Punjab CM.

The party also appeared in no hurry to take the matter to the Election Commi­ssion of Pakistan (ECP) for the disqualification of the MPAs who voted for Mr Elahi despite a letter by the president stating otherwise.

As Mr Shujaat is facing health problems and his speech was difficult to comprehend, most of the questions by the media were answered by Mr Cheema. Responding to a query regarding disqualification of the PML-Q MPAs of Punjab, Mr Cheema responded on behalf of the party president that the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court was being awaited and the legal team will take a decision after that.

During the press conference, the PML-Q president spoke about the economy of the country and said it was a “wrong precedent that the army chief had to interfere”. “We all have to understand why the army chief had to request the Americans to help Pakistan in these tough times,” he said, adding that if the situation was not controlled then managing the economy could become difficult.

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He also added that the politicians must be careful in hurling accusations against each other as the politicians were a “soft target” and everybody will get out of the situation without a scratch but the politicians will find themselves in trouble.

During the presser, Mr Cheema said that the removal of Chaudhary Shujaat as the head of the PML-Q was “illegal” and it was not possible that the founder of the party could be removed by the Punjab chapter of the party.

“The central executive committee of the party has not even met; I am the secretary general, and the central office bearers, including the provincial presidents, are here present in this press conference,” Mr Cheema added.

He added, “But I want to tell one thing that any kind of blame game targeting Chaudhary Salik, me, or anybody is just akin to opening Pandora’s Box and that it was a sign of immaturity.”

“Power and position are transitory but I would request Chaudhry Parvez Elahi not to divide the family and not to break the party,” Mr Cheema implored the newly-elected Punjab CM.

Mr Cheema added that a message to Mr Elahi was relayed that he should be the candidate of Chaudhry Shujaat instead of Imran Khan. “This message was conveyed three hours ahead of the polling for the slot of the chief minister,” Mr Shujaat chipped in. He said they did not stand with “incompetent” Imran Khan and that the impression that PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari trapped the PML-Q was baseless. “Neither Ch Shujaat nor Ch Parvez Elahi was immature politicians who could be swayed by anybody,” he added.

Exchange of hot words

Mr Cheema also exchanged hot words with Chaudhry Wajahat Hussain, a brother of the PML-Q chief, during a show on ARY News in the evening. In a heated debate, Mr Hussain, who appeared on the show via telephone, accused MNA Cheema of creating a rift in the Chaudhry family – a charge the lawmaker vehemently denied. Mr Cheema said the deal had been finalised with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) by Ch Shujaat but it was broken by Mr Elahi.

Mr Cheema, taking a jibe at Wajahat Hussain, said he was still standing with their brother Shujaat while they had abandoned him for the sake of power.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2022