LAHORE: A Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader on Sunday denied there had been suggestions during meetings that PTI president Chaudhry Parvez Elahi or his son would become chief minister in case the party wins elections to the Punjab Assembly.

“This talk (if any) is between PTI Chairman Imran Khan and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi as we are unaware of this,” PTI Lahore chief Sheikh Imtiaz told Dawn. “There has been no discussion at all on this issue at our party’s meetings,” he added.

Parvez Elahi said in an interview to a news website on Saturday that Imran Khan had promised to make him or Moonis Elahi chief minister if the party won elections.

Mr Elahi also claimed that he had given in writing a signed copy of the summary on dissolving the provincial assembly, with a copy of his CNIC, to Mr Khan and asked him to write a date of his choice for the assembly’s dissolution.

The former Punjab chief minister held a press conference on Sunday where he reiterated his claims.

Sheikh Imtiaz said he had attended a meeting of the party for award of tickets for Lahore seats, but “I never heard anything about Imran Khan’s promise to Parvez Elahi about the chief minister’s slot”.

“Since our focus is on the campaign for building pressure on the government to hold elections in Punjab on May 14, there has been no discussion about the CM position so far,” he maintained.

Mr Imtiaz said PTI had given tickets to all candidates whose names were approved.

Attempts to obtain comments from PTI’s other leaders like Fawad Chaudhry, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Hammad Azhar on Parvez Elahi’s observations remained unsuccessful.

Chaudhry Parvez Elahi alleged at a press conference at his residence on Sunday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had gone to London to take fresh instructions from Nawaz Sharif about their ongoing “conspiracies against the judiciary”.

“The PDM-led government is playing havoc with the country. Except for Islamabad, the entire country has been turned into a prison. If anyone wants to stay here, they should get bail,” he quipped.

Mr Elahi further said Nawaz Sharif was an absconder and that Khawaja Asif “repeats whatever Nawaz Sharif tells him to speak”.

“Mohsin Naqvi (the caretaker chief minister of Punjab) is a puppet in the mould of (former Sindh CM) Jam Sadiq. Mohsin Naqvi’s term has expired, but he and members of his cabinet are still drawing salaries from the exchequer,” Mr Elahi added.

“The court has pardoned the attack on our house, but we have not forgiven anyone. Police took away mobile phones, wallets and even motorcycles of guests present at that time,” the former chief minister alleged.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2023