LAHORE: Punjab Commerce and Investment Minister Shafay Hussain has apparently distanced himself from his younger brother Salik Hussain, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis who levelled corruption allegations against the provincial government of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz a few days ago.
Shafay’s unequivocal support for Maryam has reportedly saved his position in the Punjab cabinet. ‘Shafay Hussain’s recent interviews have been supportive of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, so we have no plan to denotifyhim from the Punjab cabinet, Information and Culture Minister Azma Bokhari told Dawn on Wednesday when asked whether the provincial government was considering removing him following his younger brother’s outburst against the chief minister.
‘Shafay Hussain has rejected Salik’s allegations,’ she added. The PML-Q has only one minister in the Punjab cabinet Shafay Hussain. On Tuesday, Ms Nawaz served a Rs5 billion defamation notice on Salik over his corruption allegations against her government, demanding that he retract his remarks.
Salik said on Wednesday that he would respond to the notice.
The controversy also drew in former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s son, former federal minister Moonis Elahi, who took a swipe at Ms Nawaz over her remarks about Gujrat in apost on X. ‘Punjab was not handed over to youbymyfather.Infact,youbecame chief minister because of Form-47,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Ms Bokhari asked Mr Salik to substantiate his corruption allegations or apologise, saying he could not enjoy the privileges of being part of the government while simultaneously engaging in political mudslinging.
She said it was unbecoming of a federal minister and a member of the ruling coalition to level allegations without producing evidence.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also weighed in on the controversy through a post on X, saying Mr Salik’s remarks about corruption in Punjab were beyond his limited political understanding.
‘Corruption is one of the biggest challenges facing our society, and it is the collective responsibility of the entire political leadership, both at the federal andprovincial levels, to rid the country of this menace.
The PML-Q is part of both the federal and provincial governments. We should join hands and wage a collective war against corruption,’ he said.
Asif further said if Salik’s statement is part of a future political agenda aimed at targeting Ms Nawaz’s government to carve out political space for himself at both the provincial and federal levels and secure his political future, ‘it would make sense.
The latest exchange comes against the backdrop of a political split within the Chaudhry family following the ouster of Imran Khan’s government through a noconfidence vote in 2022. While Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his son Moonis Elahi aligned themselves with the PTI, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s sons, Salik and Shafay, chose to side with the Sharifs.