ISLAMABAD – A majority of PML-Q lawmakers in the joint parliamentary party meeting on Thursday called the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl chief Fazlur Rehman “unreliable” and advised the Chaudhrys to avoid striking any power-sharing deal with the JUI-F in Balochistan.
A source in the PML-Q told Pakistan Today that the party parliamentarians were sceptical about Fazl’s departure from the coalition, saying he would rejoin the government soon. He said a number of party lawmakers also suspected the PPP’s contacts with the PML-Q.
“They opined that the PPP was just engaging the PML-Q to keep its angry coalition partners under pressure and would never finalise any power-sharing deal with the PML-Q,” he added. The source said that according to some members, the “purposeless negotiations” between the PPP and the PML-Q were tarnishing the party’s image in public.
“They advised the Chaudhrys to either strike a deal with the PPP now or forget the matter forever, as the indecisive approach was causing loss to the party,” he added. “Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi sought party lawmaker’s opinion on reformed general sales tax issue and told them that the government’s economic team was in contact with him to seek the PML-Q’s support for the legislation,” the source said.
He said that the PML-Q parliamentarians told the Chaudhrys that the party should not support GST as it would badly damage the party’s popularity. Separately, Balochistan Governor Zulfikar Magsi succeeded in his efforts to convince the Chaudhrys to not destabilise the Balochistan government. Magsie met the PML-Q’s central command twice within 24 hours.
After a detailed meeting with the Chaudhry brothers on Wednesday night, Magsi again met PML-Q leaders on Thursday after the party’s joint parliamentary party meeting. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Magsi said he had come to meet the Chaudhrys in greater national interest.
“The PML-Q has a majority in the Balochistan Assembly and I requested its leadership to not politically destabilise the already turbulent province.
