Feeling the heat of the ongoing hearing in the Supreme Court in the Rental Power Plants (RPPs) case and pressure from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Saturday made a move to rein in his party’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly, Faisal Saleh Hayat, asking him to go slow on the RPPs issue as it had caused embarrassment to the government, of which their party was a coalition partner.
However, a source told Pakistan Today that Faisal Saleh Hayat refused to withdraw from the case that he had filed in the Supreme Court much before the PML-Q had joined the PPP-led coalition. Shujaat had visited Faisal’s residence on Saturday. “Faisal clearly told Shujaat that his stance was irreversible,” the source said. The source said the PML-Q central command was perturbed over Faisal’s stance over the RPPs issue and his appearance and statements in the Supreme Court in the last couple of days.
“The PML-Q leadership thinks that the controversy over RPPs can damage the PPP-PML-Q alliance in the coming days,” the source added. On the other hand, Faisal told Shujaat that his arguments regarding corruption in the RPPs case were not a charge-sheet of a cabinet member against the government, rather he was just pointing out corruption in “one specific case” of a particular ministry. “Faisal told Shujaat that he had raised the issue in 2009 when the PML-Q was not part of the government and he was not holding the portfolio of a federal minister… he told the PML-Q president that he was not indicting the government, rather pointing out corruption in one particular case only.
He asked Shujaat that a few weeks ago, he had admitted corruption in Barakahu land scam which was related to his Ministry of Housing and Works, but it did not mean that he had charged himself and levelled allegations against his own ministry,” the source added. The source said Faisal reminded Shujaat that he (Shujaat) along a number of other PML-Q leaders, including party Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed, had been appearing in Supreme Court in the RPPs case in the past when the PML-Q had not joined the PPP-led coalition government.
“Faisal said he had told the Supreme Court that even the federal cabinet was being misled by the Water and Power Ministry and by adopting this stance he in fact had defended the government and the cabinet,” the source added.
