LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi on Saturday skipped the first meeting of a committee formed by the government to hold talks with opposition parties regarding the march on Islamabad later this month.
The PML-Q is a coalition partner of the government at the Centre and in Punjab. However, Elahi did not show up for the meeting due to personal engagements.
Defence Minister Pervez Khattak held a telephonic conversation with the PML-Q leader. Elahi assured him of his participation at the next meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
The Khattak-led committee comprises of National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, federal ministers Shafqat Mahmood and Noorul Haq Qadri, former finance minister Asad Umar, and Chaudhry Pervez Elahi himself.
Khattak had earlier said the committee has been constituted to hold a dialogue with opposition parties to prevail upon them to shun the planned anti-government march.
It may be mentioned that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman called on the residence of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to inquire about this health. The visit is signicant due to the ongoing political situation in the country.
JUI-F’s Talha Mahmood, Maulana Abdul Haideri and Maulana Amjad, federal minister Tariq Bashir Cheema and PML-Q MNAs Moonis Elahi and Salik Hussain were present during the meeting.
Jamaat-i-Islami leaders Liaquat Baloch and Farid Piracha also called and inquired about the health of Chaudhry Shujaat and discussed the prevailing political situation in the country.
