Political wheeling and dealing on

ISLAMABAD: The no-trust move against Prime Minister Imran Khan continues to be the focus of hectic political activity, from London to Lahore, from Karachi to Islamabad.

The premier finally seems to be considering replacing Usman Buzdar to save his government; Aleem Khan has met Nawaz Sharif in London; the PML-Q continues lobbying for the chief ministership and the MQM is seeking certain assurances from the PPP.

Media reports suggest that while the prime minister has agreed to replace Usman Buzdar, he has postponed the move till the outcome of the opposition’s no-trust motion. A source claimed that Imran Khan spoke to Aoun Chaudhry of the Jehangir Tareen group and suggested the name of Muhammad Aslam Iqbal as the PTI’s next Chief Minister of Punjab.

When approached by The News, Aoun Chaudhry-- who was once a close associate of Imran Khan but sided with Jehangir Tareen after the latter parted ways with the premier-- denied that the prime minister had spoken to him. The source, however, said that the premier spoke to Chaudhry and discussed the name of Aslam Iqbal as Buzdar’s replacement to win back the support of Jehangir Tareen and his group.

Tareen is in London these days for medical treatment. In his absence, the Tareen group’s activities are managed and organized in Lahore by Aoun Chaudhry, who is in regular contact with JKT.

The government says that it is currently focusing on the no-trust move and will deal with the Buzdar issue later. There are media reports about the setting up of a committee by the prime minister to finalise the name of Usman Buzdar’s replacement.

In London, Aleem Khan met Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday to discuss the Imran Khan government and its removal. On Thursday, Aleem Khan met Jehangir Khan Tareen. A few days back, Aleem suddenly emerged claiming to have the backing of several PTI dissident members of the National Assembly and Punjab Assembly. Aleem Khan had announced his group’s merger into the Tareen Group.

Aleem Khan is clearly vying for the office of Chief Minister Punjab. However, in a meeting between the PMLQ and Tareen group on Wednesday, no meaningful discussion took place in this respect. Aleem visited Nawaz for the same reason, but sources say the issue of the CM-ship of Punjab was not discussed even there.

The PMLQ, meanwhile, is busy meeting the opposition parties seeking the chief ministership for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. Chaudhry Shujaat came to Islamabad on Tuesday and has already met Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Asif Ali Zardari. Late last night (Thursday), Pervaiz Elahi was also heading from Lahore to stay in Islamabad until some decision is taken regarding the party’s stance vis a vis the no-trust move.

Informed sources said that Asif Ali Zardari is pressing the PML-N to offer the office of CM Punjab to Pervaiz Elahi to secure their support against Imran Khan in the no-confidence move. The PMLN, however, has not yet taken any decision in this regard.

It is said that Asif Ali Zardari has assured the Chaudhrys that the PPP would accommodate the MQM in the Sindh government and would try to meet all their demands as far as possible.

Although the Tareen Group, PMLQ and MQM are more inclined towards the opposition at the moment and also talking with the ruling parties' adversaries, none of them have taken any final decision on who they would ultimately support.

Meanwhile, the government has started flexing its muscles both against the opposition and the PTI dissident members. On Thursday, the Islamabad police raided the opposition members’ rooms in the Parliament Lodges, apparently to arrest the JUIF scouts, whereas in Punjab the Tareen group has complained that the businesses of some of its members were forcibly shut down by the government.