As the next general elections are approaching, the political temperatures are constantly on the rise.

Although the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government managed to get the Finance Supplementary Bill, 2021, (widely known as mini budget) as well as the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021 approved in the Parliament despite the uproar and protest by the opposition, the cracks within the ruling party were evident following the heated exchange between the Federal Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Prime Minister Imran Khan in a high-level party meeting.

According to sources, the situation became tense when PM Khan’s hitherto trusted party members including Khattak and MNA Noor Alam Khan, who is the convener of Public Accounts Committee-1 (PAC-1), expressed serious reservations about the rising inflation, the mini-budget, and the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) bill.

“I won’t be able to vote for you during the passage of the mini budget,” sources reported Khattak as saying. Khattak also reportedly took a jibe at the Energy Minister änd said that while KP is a leading producer of gas and electricity, yet it is finding it difficult to get these utilities in the region.

Sources, who were part of the meeting, told Bol News that Khattak was in a bad mood and vented his aggression by uttering several strong remarks against the PM. “We made you the prime minister through our votes, but if your behaviour remains how it is at the moment we will not vote for you next time,” he reportedly remarked.

According to one of the ministers who was part of the meeting, PM Imran after listening to Khattak’s comments, first looked like leaving the meeting but stopped short to give a curt reply to his minister. “Stop blackmailing and I could handover this government to someone else and leave. I don’t own industries or factories. Whatever I am doing is for the betterment of this country,”the PM is quoted to have said to Khattak.

He added that some of the senior party leaders also stopped PM Imran from walking out of the meeting.

However, the former KP chief minister later said that he never disagreed with the premier and only had a conversation during the meeting about the gas issues faced by his people in the KP.

Answering queries from the media following a separate meeting with PM Khan, Khattak maintained that they only discussed the gas issue in KP and he had hundred percent confidence in the premier. “Ï am shocked to see the media reports, this never happened,” said Khattak. “I didn’t say anything along the lines of not voting for PM Imran Khan again.”

Forward Block within PTI?

Although Khattak has refuted all the rumours circulating in the media about a forward block in the party, sources close to Khattak confirmed to Bol News that the formation of a forward block couldn’t be ruled out as Khattak’s brother Liaquat and nephew Ahad Khattak joined the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in November last year after developing serious differences with the PTI leadership. According to sources, Liaqat wanted a party ticket for his son in PP-63 by polls, a constituency which fell vacant after the demise of PTI MPA Mian Jamshed Uddin Kakakhel due to Coronavirus. But the party ticket was awarded to Kakakhel’s son Mian Umar Kakakhel. That annoyed the Liaquat and ahad who put their weight behind PML-N’s Ikhtiar Wali Khan who eventually won the PP-63 seat. Liaquat was then removed from the provincial cabinet in February 2021.

“Pervez Khattak might join his brother and nephew since people of his constituency and family members are pressurizing him to quit PTI before the next general elections,” one of Khattak’s close aides confided to Bol News.

Meanwhile, a number of television channels also reported Khattak’s tiff with PM Imran and speculated that the former is being seen as the next prime minister who is likely to have the support of both PPP and PML-N besides the forward block.

The successful approval of the Finance Bill on Thursday, however, has largely put the above mentioned rumours to rest, at least for the time being.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen confidently said on the floor of the house on Thursday that when the growth will be of 4 to 5 percent in the coming days, the narrative of the opposition parties will die a natural death.

Legal proceedings against Shehbaz Sharif?

Another significant development on the political scene it the government’s renewed tirade against ex-premier Nawaz Sharif and his brother, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif for hoodwinking the nation about Nawaz’s illness and his failure to return in the stipulated time given by the court.

The Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed on January 13 has also written to the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to constitute a medical board in order to find out the current status of PML-N supremo’s health and whether or not he is able to return to Pakistan.

According to details, the PML-N supremo Nawaz was given the one-time permission in November 2019 by the Lahore High Court to travel abroad for medical treatment as an interim arrangement for four weeks to seek medical treatment. following an undertaking submitted by his younger brother and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif to the court.

It is pertinent to mention that earlier this week, the federal cabinet gave a nod to initiate proceedings against the Sharif family for the apparent violation of the undertaking submitted before the LHC. The Federal Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that the attorney general would be tasked with seeking disqualification of Shehbaz over giving a “false” affidavit to the court.

The letter addressed to Punjab Home Secretary Zafar Nasrullah Khan by the attorney general’s office reads: “In order to initiate the process of verification in the light of the Nov. 16, 2019 Lahore High Court order, the Government of Punjab is requested to constitute a medical board/committee to examine the documents submitted as medical reports on behalf of the petitioner and Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif so that expert medical opinion regarding the physical condition of Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and his ability to travel back to Pakistan is made available.”

The AGP in his letter recommended that the medical board may examine the documents submitted by both the brothers before the LHC and, given all the known and reported facts and public activities of the former premier, evaluate and form an opinion. Once expert medical opinion is available, the AGP office said it would proceed as per the order of the LHC.

The letter pointed out that Nawaz Sharif’s “apparent present physical condition is well known to the media”. “Given the fact that he had left the country claiming to be in extreme critical condition which prima facie improved significantly after his arrival in London and the fact that he has apparently never been hospitalized and his political, social and other recreational activities have continued uninterrupted… indicate that severe ailment, if any, that may have existed in [the] past is no longer evident or [constrains] his activities,” the letter said. The AGP’s letter surmised that this could indicate that the former prime minister was fit to travel back to Pakistan, as per the solemn and binding undertakings and commitments made before the high court.

The letter maintained that the undertakings given by the Sharif family were incorporated in the order of the Nov 11, 2019 LHC order and Shehbaz Sharif had submitted eight documents, claimed to be Nawaz’s periodical medical reports – the last of which dated July 8, 2021 was filed before the court on Aug 3, 2021. The letter cited the undertaking given by Shehbaz to ensure the return of his brother within four weeks, or as and when certified by doctors. “The former chief minister had also undertaken to provide to the high court registrar the periodical medical reports of Nawaz Sharif, duly notarized by the embassy or high commission of Pakistan. But the same have not been furnished.”

Sources told Bol News that apparently, the legal proceedings that the PTI government has initiated against the Sharifs is to put pressure on the Opposition which is all set to embark on a long march to oust Imran Khan. It may be mentioned here that according to reports, Shehbaz is also quiet active and is trying to convince Bilawal Bhutto to join PDM’s long march scheduled for March 23.

‘No Confidence Motion’

Sources said that the government is also planning to divert the attention of the opposition parties from the ‘no confidence motion’ on which the opposition parties are presently mulling over.

“A number of opposition leaders are in favour of the no confidence motion against Imran Khan and the PTI government. That include Bilawal Bhutto, Asif Ali Zardari, Khawaja Muhammad Asif and some of the leaders of other opposition parties who are now pondering over the exact time to table the motion,” sources told Bol News.

Only time will tell as to who emerges as the ultimate winner in the current political tussle but it is for sure that the next few weeks will be quite dramatic and sensational in Pakistan politics.