The claim that former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa nudged the PML-Q to support Imran Khan at the time of the no-confidence vote was repeated on Sunday by Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi, whose son was the first person to spill the beans on what drove them to reject the PDM’s offer in April.
“God changed our path in the last moments and sent Bajwa sahab to show us the way. When I expressed my concerns about the Sharifs and that I don’t trust them then Bajwa sahab said, ‘You should proceed carefully and the path going towards Imran is better for you and your friends,’” Pervez said in an interview with Bol News.
Similar claims were made by his son Moonis last week in a TV interview. He had said that the former army chief was “never bad” as the latter was the person who asked the former to support Imran at a critical juncture in the country’s politics.
“That person was never bad. If he was… let me tell you this if that person was bad he would have never told me to side with the PTI,” Moonis had said when the host sought clarification on whether Gen Bajwa had asked them to support Imran.
“When the decision was being taken on which way we have to go, we had received offers from both sides — *mian sahiban [*Sharif family], the PDM [Pakistan Democratic Movement], as well as the PTI. Obviously, as everyone knows, my inclination was toward the PTI. There’s no doubt about it.”
Moreover, Imran also spoke about this on Saturday. But, the former prime minister accused Gen (retd) of playing double games as the big guns of PML-Q were given different suggestions at that time.
“Moonis was asked to support Imran Khan, while the other one [Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain] had been asked to go to PML-N. Gen Bajwa was playing a double game and I could later identify that even PTI’s different men were being given different messages,” Imran said
Like Moonis, Pervez said that he had received offers from both the PTI camp and the PDM for the PML-Q’s support. The CM said that his son Moonis Elahi had also expressed a desire to side with the PTI.
The Punjab chief minister was of the view that the government’s tenure would last till August 2023. He went on to say that the country has not have such a system in which polls could be held at the whim of somebody.
“It is good to have elections, however, the agreement on it… the CEC is against us and Imran Khan,” he said, adding that the new setup (in an apparent reference to the military establishment and judiciary) has no intention. “We will have an edge if free and fair elections are held.”
