Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak left the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) parliamentary party’s meeting held in Islamabad on Thursday in fury following an ‘altercation’ with Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar on the severe gas crisis in the country, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.
Quoting its sources, the channel reported that when at last he was brought back to the meeting room, Khattak did not spare Prime Minister Imran Khan either whom he also severely criticized.
“We, the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) got you elected as the country’s prime minister. But it is sad that there is an extreme gas shortage in the province. KP has the largest gas reservoirs. We also produce electricity. And still, we are deprived of these resources,” he reportedly said to the prime minister in anguish.
“And if the same situation persists, people of the province will not vote for you,” he told PM Imran in clear and unambiguous terms.
Upset over the ‘rebellious’ tone of his minister and a close confidante, the prime minister left the room, saying, “If you are not satisfied with my ‘governance’, I appoint somebody else as my successor.”
PM Khan said he has to hold a daily meeting to woo his party members for a vote in the National Assembly.
He said if his own members continued to blackmail him in this way he would have no other option but to invite the opposition to form the government.
Khan said he does not own any businesses or factories and was daily in contact with the IMF to reduce the taxes.
This did not stop here as the defence minister also had an exchange of hot words with the Federal Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin.
“Tarin, you have failed to satisfy us on the economy,” he reportedly said to the finance minister.
Another disgruntled PTI MNA Noor Alam Khan addressed the prime minister like this, “If we vote for you in the next elections, will we be given gas and electricity in return?”
Noor Khan asked Imran Khan whether with the proposed finance bill Pakistan is going access to America to the military accounts. He questioned whether India or other countries give access to outsiders to their military accounts.
Later, Pervaiz Khattak took a U-turn from his stance and said he talked only the facts and did not leave the meeting due to differences.
Instead, he said, he left the meeting to smoke a cigarette.
He said he was surprised to see the reporting of the incident on TV channels that were suggesting as if I had stirred a storm.
He said he talked only on the gas issue and his question was regarding gas schemes initiated in the KP and was asking that they should keep functioning.
He said he did not say something like he would not give a vote (in the parliament in favour of the finance bill).
He said he was neither against the Prime Minister and he even can not think about going against the Prime Minister.
He said it was the inside matter of the party and he did not take any harsh stance.
Reporter: Awais Kiani