ISLAMABAD: Threats by the Pakistan Muslim League-Q to quit the ruling coalition turned out to be just a storm in a teacup when two main leaders of the party met President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday and assured him of their support for the PPP-led coalition.
PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and its Punjab chief Pervaiz Elahi told Mr Zardari that their party would remain in the government and contest the next general elections as an ally of the Pakistan People’s Party, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.
The meeting took place a day after ministers and advisers belonging to the PML-Q had handed over their resignations to Chaudhry Shujaat in protest against prolonged electricity loadshedding in the country, particularly in Punjab.
They criticised the performance of the government and its failure to resolve the energy crisis. They complained that the PML-Q had been in government for five months, but the PPP had not fulfilled any of its promises.
Chaudhry Shujaat said the coalition with the PPP would remain intact and the two parties would work together in future.
The Chaudhry brothers apprised the president of the concern of members of their party over the status of their alliance with the PPP.
According to sources, the Chaudhrys asked the president to address their reservations over different issues, including the NICL (National Insurance Corporation Limited) scam which also involves Monis Elahi, son of Pervaiz Elahi. “The President has assured us that all our grievances will be addressed,” Chaudhry Pervaiz told a TV channel. He said the PML-Q ministers and advisers had handed over their resignations to the party chief because the PPP had failed to resolve a number of issues concerning their constituencies.
“We had been asking the government to solve people’s problems, including prolonged power outages and bad governance. We had some concerns which were also conveyed to the president but these were not addressed. But today the president assured us that these issues would be resolved,” he said.
Chaudhry Pervaiz said they had asked the president that a strategy to solve problems should be prepared in consultation with all political parties. “We can overcome national problems by sitting together as we demonstrated at the All-Party Conference held in response to the US threats.”
He said the problem of bad governance could be solved if the chief executive (prime minister) foresaw issues and formulated a plan. He said the PML-Q wanted its representation in all committees formed by the government to deal with national issues.
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