President PML-Q Chaudhry Shujaat on Monday suspended his cousin Parvez Elahi’s party membership, it has emerged.
It comes amid the reported disagreement between the two over Elahi’s deepening ties with PTI chairman Imran Khan.
Besides suspension of the party membership, he has also been issued a show-cause notice to explain his position on the matter.
The dispute between the two had been brewing for some time, with a recent development proving to be the last straw on the camel’s back.
Elahi was recently reported to have endorsed his son Moonis Elahi’s stance on joining the PTI.
The outgoing Punjab CM was earlier quoted as saying that Moonis, too, wants the PML-Q to merge with the ex-premier’s party.
The PTI chairman had expressed interest in the two political parties joining forces for common goals.
He had proposed the idea during a meeting with journalists at his Zaman Town residence on Saturday (Jan 14).
A day earlier, on Sunday, PTI and PML-Q decided on three candidates – namely Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, Naseer Ahmad Khan and Nasir Saeed Khosa – as their nominees for the caretaker Punjab chief minister.
Sukhera is a bureaucrat presently serving as Secretary Cabinet Division, Khan is a former federal health minister, and Khosa is a retired civil servant.
Making the announcement, the PML-Q leader that the selection was made by Imran Khan himself, and that these names would now be sent to Punjab Governor Baligh-ur-Rehman.
Elahi will continue as chief minister until the caretaker chief minister is appointed and administered the oath.
Earlier, outgoing Punjab CM signed a summary to dissolve the assembly. In a one-liner to the governor, he stated, “I Parvez Elahi, chief minister of Punjab, hereby advise you to dissolve the provincial assembly.”
Punjab Assembly automatically stood dissolved after Rehman refused to sign Elahi’s summary.
Elahi had urged the PDM to “think with an open heart” and said that if they did, he could see consensus being reached.
The prevailing provincial crisis has affected the affairs of the Centre too, as the political parties engage in intense wrangling.
While the former premier wants snap elections, PML-N thinks that doing so would increase instability in the country.
