PM Imran Khan was informed about meeting with Asif Zardari: Pervaiz Elahi

• PML-Q's Pervaiz Elahi shares inside details of his meeting with Asif Zardari.
• Says PM Imran Khan was informed about Zardari meeting.
• Advises PTI government to utilise budget rather than just announce schemes.

LAHORE: Speaker Punjab Assembly Chauhdry Pervaiz Elahi Thursday said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was informed about his meeting with the former president Asif Ali Zardari.

In an interview with Geo News, the PML-Q leader said his party is the PTI's coalition party and had never cheated it.

The meeting between the two leaders that took place earlier this week at Lahore’s Bilawal House, had raised many eyebrows in political circles. The Punjab government termed the meeting between the two leaders as a "storm in a teacup".

Sources had shared that Elahi and the former president discussed the current political situation in the country.

“Before going to see Zardari sahab I had asked Moonis [Elahi] to inform PM Imran Khan about it,” Elahi told anchor Muneeb Farooq when asked about rumours following his surprise meeting with the PPP leader.

The former chief minister said that he went to thank Zardari for his cooperation in holding unopposed Senate elections in Punjab.

“I had talked to him before the polls on PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s request that the PPP should withdraw its candidates. We knew what were the weaknesses of all parties and what was their due share in the Senate seats. So on the basis of it Tariq Bashir Cheema, Moonis Elahi and I worked on it and thankfully we achieved the goal of holding an unopposed election in Punjab," revealed Elahi. 

The PML-Q leader said that the PPP had withdrawn its candidates half an hour before the deadline at the PML-Q's request.

When asked about the chances of the PTI returning to power in 2023, Elahi said “the situation could have been much better had they heeded our advice. The results of the by-elections are there for you to see. The government has only two years left in its tenure.”

The PTI government should not only announce schemes in the budget but should also utilise them, he said. 

Elahi also shared how PTI members made a hue and cry when he issued production orders for the Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shahbaz. He said after some time, when Aleem Khan was arrested, the PTI requested him to issue production orders for Khan too.