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- Punjab government says ruling coalition not affected by Zardari-Elahi meeting.
- Awan says PML-Q is an ally of the PTI government.
- Says the Opposition can dream of toppling the PTI government, there is no ban on it.
LAHORE: The Punjab government has termed the meeting of Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and PPP Co-Chairperson Asif Ali Zardari a “storm in a teacup” and rubbished rumours of any differences between the coalition partners.
Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, in a statement on social media, said those who always dream of dethroning the PTI are speculating on the matter.
The surprise Zardar-Elahi meeting in the provincial capital on Tuesday has triggered rumours among political circles about rifts between the ruling coalition.
Reacting to the political development which has raised many eyebrows, Awan said, “The PML-Q is an experienced political party and an important ally of the PTI government.”
Awan said that the Opposition can dream of toppling the PTI government, there is no ban on it.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, we have defeated the worried Opposition – due to the successes achieved by the government – at every front.”
She advised them to work with the government for public welfare.
Elahi had called on Zardari at Lahore’s Bilawal House to thank him on supporting the unopposed Senate elections in Punjab.
Sources had said that Zardari told the Punjab Assembly speaker that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been doing “good opposition” against the ruling party.
To this, Elahi had told the former president that he had seen the young PPP chairperson’s speeches multiple times and observed that he spoke “maturely”.
The two also discussed the incumbent government.
“You were our ally [during our tenure] and are also an ally of this government […] you must have seen the difference,” Zardari was quoted as saying by sources. They added that the former president told the PML-Q leader that Imran Khan and his ministers are “making a mistake by thinking that they can intimidate the Sindh government with threats”.
“We have faced dictators and what are they [PTI]?” asked Zardari.
The PPP leader had also told the provincial assembly speaker that his party will surprise everyone in the next general elections and claimed that some important people from South Punjab would join the party soon.
On the other hand, sources said that Elahi had conveyed to Zardari that his party would remain an ally of the PTI till the general elections.
“Despite being an ally, we have, at multiple times, opposed government policies,” sources had quoted Elahi as saying during the meeting.
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