Amraiz Khan
Lahore
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Q finally resolved their differences on Monday after a three-member government committee held talks with coalition partners to resolve longstanding and pending issues primarily on development funds and administrative powers.
The government committee, comprising Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood held its meeting at senior PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi’s residence in Lahore.
The committee had also invited Defence Minister Pervez Khattak as well as Planning and Development Minister Asad Umer to be part of the meeting.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Elahi maintained that several issues were discussed during the meeting.
“Each government faces a different set of challenges. Therefore, whatever situation arises, we will face it together, and with mutual consultation and discussions, will try to find a solution.”
He added that the PML-Q wants the tabdeeli (change) witnessed during the tenure of Prime Minister Imran Khan to benefit those at the very tail-end.
“There has been a lot of talk on where the bottlenecks are and how they can be resolved. But, one thing is very clear, we do not have any doubts about the leadership, intentions, and struggle of Imran Khan.
“We [PML-Q] want our union with [the PTI] to continue till the next elections so that we can stand before the people after offering solutions to their problems,” he said, adding that then the people will know that they can deliver.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak stated that the misunderstanding regarding the government’s allies jumping ship had been removed. “None of them are abandoning us,” he said, adding that the issues between the government and the PML-Q were small and “insignificant”, but were blown out of proportion.
“We were in contact throughout this whole process. We were partners before and will continue to be partners,” he said, adding that the purpose of the meeting was to dispel the misunderstandings that there were major differences between the two parties. “There were some issues that were resolved after sitting down. If you don’t take your allies on board, the situation can worsen. Therefore, we will carry out decisions after mutual consultation,” he said. “Issues will keep cropping up, they crop up in our homes too, but we will have to settle them. We assure the people that this partnership will last for the next three years,” Khattak maintained.
The defence minister further told the media that any misgivings about the government and coalition partners not working together have been removed. “MQM, PML-Q and BNP will remain as allies for the next three years,” he added.
