PM Imran Khan addresses Chaudhry brothers' reservations in private meeting

LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan managed to win over the government's estranged allies, the PML-Q on Wednesday after holding a private meeting with the Chaudhry brothers, confirmed sources.

The premier arrived at PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain's residence to inquire about his health. Sources confirmed that two meetings were held between the delegations.

In the first meeting, the prime minister's aide Shahbaz Gill and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar were present whereas the PML-Q delegation consisted of Moonis Elahi, Salik Hussain and federal minister Tariq Bashir Cheema.

The prime minister then held a one-on-one meeting with Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Chaudhry Shujaat, where discussions were held in a cordial atmosphere.

Sources said that after the meeting ended, the Chaudhry brothers' reservations were removed from the government.

Earlier, reports of differences between the government and the PML-Q came to the fore after the PTI's coalition ally skipped a luncheon hosted earlier this month by the prime minister at the PM Office.

Federal minister Tariq Cheema had said that it was his party’s decision to not go to the luncheon, adding that the PML-Q's reservations had not been addressed by the government.

"When PML-Q is not important for PM Imran Khan, what is the point for the party to attend the luncheon?" Cheema had said reportedly.

“Whenever the government needed [us], we voted for them more than the government’s [own] people,” he had said.

Cheema had also claimed that the ministers who had invited them had also acknowledged that the PML-Q was not being treated fairly.