Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Wednesday that Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain’s remarks regarding corruption in Punjab were “beyond my understanding”.

During a talk show on a private television channel on Monday, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader had lavished praise on former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi. However, he had also criticised the present provincial administration, headed by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, alleging that he regularly heard complaints of corruption.

On Tuesday, CM Maryam had sent a Rs5 billion defamation notice to the minister, demanding that he retract his remarks.

In a post on the social media platform X on Wednesday, Asif said, “Chaudhry Salik Sahib is very respected in my eyes; I respect his elders just as I respect my own.

“His statement regarding corruption in Punjab is beyond my limited political understanding. Corruption is the biggest issue in our society and it is the collective responsibility of the political leadership, both at the central and provincial levels, to rid the country of this curse,” he said.

He went on to say that Salik was a part of “both the federal and provincial governments and the leadership of both these governments lies with the PML-N”.

“If this statement is part of some future political agenda — to target Maryam Nawaz’s government and carve out space for himself in Punjab and at the Centre to secure his political future — then it starts to make sense,” he said.

He also praised Maryam’s performance, saying her work across Punjab’s cities and villages and the service standards being set by her government would pose a “very difficult challenge” for its opponents.

What did Salik say?

During his interview, Salik had also questioned lavish government spending, particularly the use of official aircraft, arguing that public representatives should remain mindful of the country’s economic difficulties. Officials using government aircraft, he said, should be required to demonstrate the tangible outcomes and public benefits of their trips.

He further called for greater ministerial accountability, proposing that the federal as well as provincial ministers should be empowered to perform their duties, but also be held answerable for their performance.

The remarks carry particular political significance given the fractured relationship between the Chaudhry family and the PTI leadership. Salik, the younger son of PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, belongs to a family whose political loyalties have diverged sharply since the ouster of Imran Khan’s government in 2022 through a no-confidence vote.

While Elahi and his son, former federal minister Moonis Elahi, aligned themselves with the PTI, the Shujaat family chose to stand with the Sharifs. Salik’s elder brother, Shafay Hussain, is also part of CM Maryam’s cabinet in Punjab.

On Tuesday, CM Maryam said the PML-Q leader’s anger stemmed neither from corruption nor progress. She said the issue was that she had changed the deputy commissioner of Gujrat a few days earlier, whereas Salik wanted a DC of his choice to be appointed.

The defamation notice — sent to Salik, ARY News host Naeem Ashraf Butt and the channel’s chairman — said the minister’s remarks were not just an expression of disagreement with policy or “ordinary political criticism”, but conveyed “serious imputations” of widespread corruption in the province.

The notice called on them to retract the remarks, publish an “unconditional and unequivocal apology and clarification” and “remove or suitably correct” the portions of the interview in question. It also demanded a sum of Rs5bn in damages.

Meanwhile, responding to Maryam’s remarks, Salik said he stood by his statement and had responded honestly to a question during the interview.

The minister’s remarks had also drawn a sharp rebuttal from Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari, who advised Salik not to “bite the hand that feeds him”. Bokhari also alleged that his displeasure stemmed from a request to appoint a deputy commissioner of his choice being turned down.