Governor Sindh Imran Ismail said in a press conference that “I have conveyed the Prime Minister’s message to the former Punjab Minister (Aleem Khan) and now it is up to him what he decides” he further added that “I will have another meeting with him shortly” however refrained to announce the date and time of the meeting.
In a major jolt to the PTI government, former Punjab Minister and a close aide to the Prime Minister, Aleem Khan, announced that he would be joining the “Tareen” group led by the estranged party leader Jahangir Tareen. His announcement came after a meeting at Tareen’s residence in Lahore and at a time when the opposition was accelerating its efforts to topple the government through a no confidence motion against the “incompetence” and the “poor governance” of the ruling party.
Soon after the announcement, the Prime Minister requested Sindh Governor Imran Ismail to pacify the situation. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Ismail confirmed that he was in Lahore on the prime minister’s directives and would convey the group’s “requests, recommendations and reservations” to PM Imran.
Read more: Is PTI’s Aleem Khan going against PM Imran Khan?
For the first time in the PTI’s governing history, Aleem Khan assailed the Imran Khan government in general and Usman Buzdar in particular for “completely failing to fulfill its mandate and bring about the promised change”.
After meeting with the disgruntled Aleem Khan, Imran Ismail said that putting aside our differences, Imran Khan rests assured that the former Punjab minister would never “side” with the opposition but seemed more like a wish than an expectation.
A few days after his initial meeting at Tareens residence, Aleem Khan also held an hour-long meeting with the three-time disqualified Prime Minister, Nawaz Shariff – Imran Khan’s biggest political rival.
PTI supporters see this as threat to their govt. I don't. I see it as an opportunity for disgruntled PTI members to bring forward their grievances in the hope for some relief. This is more of a vote of no confidence against Buzdar!
https://t.co/qFBdO3s8cf— Hassan Aslam Shad (@HassShad) March 7, 2022
According to various sources, the meeting took place at the Sharif family’s office in Stanhope House, hours after the arrival of the disgruntled Aleem Khan.
Outside Stanhope House, when reporters questioned Nawaz Sharif on what was discussed during the meeting with Aleem Khan, the PML-N supreme leader refrained from commenting.
Privy to the situation, many Punjab government insiders believe that Aleem Khan was only interested in becoming the Chief Minister of Punjab and never had any interest in the “lower slots.” Once he was not given the seat, he had lost all interest in provincial politics and “even stopped turning up at the provincial meetings,” exclaimed one source. According to various sources, he had even conveyed his decision to resign long ago and was only waiting for the Prime Minister’s go-ahead.
Read more: Is PM Khan’s future in jeopardy after no-confidence motion?
Aleem Khan initially submitted his official resignation as the Punjab food minister in 2021, citing that “My businesses need me and politics does not”. During a meeting with the premier, the former minister persuaded PM Imran to accept his resignation so that he could “maintain neutrality,” to which he added that “In order to maintain neutrality, it is important for me to not hold any government post.”