File photo of Jahangir Khan Tareen
PMLN leader claims Jahangir Khan Tareen’s bloc within the PTI has agreed to support joint opposition in Punjab Assembly
The Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT) Group of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will support the joint opposition’s candidate for the slot of the Punjab chief minister, senior Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Ishaq Dar claimed early on Saturday, mere hours before the convening of a session of the Punjab Assembly to nominate Usman Buzdar’s replacement.
“Had fruitful final round of discussion with Jahangir Khan Tareen,” Dar posted on Twitter. “Mutually concluded that JKT Group will support joint opposition’s candidate, Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, for the slot of chief minister of Punjab,” he said. “Deeply appreciate support of JKT and JKT Group,” he added.
Earlier, local media had reported that Dar, a former finance minister, and Tareen, an ex-secretary general of the PTI, had met at a hotel in London and discussed the upcoming no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan and the election of the Punjab chief minister.
While Tareen has not issued any statement on his meeting with Dar, the JKT Group’s spokesman, Aun Chaudhry, told journalists that its MPAs would support the joint opposition’s candidate.
The PTI’s candidate for Buzdar’s replacement, Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) leader Pervaiz Elahi, has been undertaking his own efforts to shore up support for his candidacy. His son, federal minister Moonis Elahi, has met members of the JKT Group several times in the past week in the hopes of securing their support against the joint opposition. On Friday, per local media, he met them once again but failed to get any positive response.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed Buzdar to resign from the post of Punjab chief minister in a bid to retain the ruling coalition’s allies and ensure they voted against the opposition’s no-confidence motion. To achieve this, he had offered to support Pervaiz Elahi’s candidacy for the post, with the expectation that the PMLQ would be joined by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP). However, both the MQM and BAP have joined the opposition in the no-trust vote against the prime minister, leaving the incumbent government with less than the 172 MNAs required to remain in power.
Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhamad Sarwar accepted the resignation of Usman Buzdar on Friday morning, effectively dissolving the provincial cabinet. Shortly after, the governor summoned a session of the Punjab Assembly today (Saturday) to elect the new leader of the house. The deadline for submission of nominations for the chief ministership is 5 p.m.; the vote could take place at any point after that.