Imran Khan's allies turn against him at coalition luncheon; tear apart Pakistan govt deeds

'Naya' Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday invited his government's allies to a luncheon, where the coalition partners expressed dissent over some issues, Pakistani media reported.

The coalition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), other political parties of Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), were relentless in pushing their complaints, and Khan eventually had to make concessions and agree to address their grievances in the near term, reported The News.

'...the government does nothing to prove it'

Quoting their sources, The News stated that the allies had expressed reservations over the non-provision of development funds and lack of development projects in their constituencies. They had also protested against the unresolved issues of the people belonging to the constituencies.

Dr Fehmida Mirza, the Minister for Inter-provincial coordination, regretted that neither the federal government nor the Sindh government had undertaken any mega projects or development works in Sindh. "The people of Sindh are being treated like stepchildren," said Dr Mirza, urging Imran Khan to pay attention to their problems. The PML-F also expressed reservations over the neglect felt by the people of Sindh, according to The News. "We are your allies, but the government does nothing to prove it," complained Pir Pagara.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government’s only ally in Punjab – the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-Q) – not only skipped the luncheon hosted by Imran Khan but accused the ruling party of never trying to address coalition partner’s grievances in the last two years.

Suggesting that the coalition partner was apparently of no value to the PTI government, PML-Q’s Federal Minister for Housing and Works Tariq Bashir Cheema minced no words in expressing his party’s concerns, saying that the only relation between the two parties was of voting for the government.

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Meanwhile, Imran Khan slammed the Opposition, alleging that they were 'hell-bent on harming Pakistan." He also claimed that his party would win the elections on the basis of their performance in the next two and a half years. This comes amid a tense political situation in Pakistan, with a pro-democracy coalition organised in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan in October by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) which is gathering support amongst the masses. The campaign to topple Khan's government had brought the tabooed topic of military intervention up for discussion.

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