LAHORE: Punjab Commerce and Investment Minister Shafay Hussain of the PML-Q has said that he is standing by his younger brother Salik Hussain, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, come what may.
In response to the ongoing controversy involving Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and Salik Hussain, Mr Shafay said: ‘I have and will never distance myself from my younger brother. My brother is an independent person with his own independent views,’ he told Dawn on Thursday.
Maryam Nawaz has served a Rs5 billion defamation notice on Salik over his cor-ruption allegations against her government, demanding that he retract his remarks. Salik, however, has maintained that he will respond to the notice.
Defending his brother, Mr Shafay said he (Salik) might be privy to information (about corruption), which he was not aware of.
‘Salik Hussain never named Maryam Nawaz and never intended to say anything about her nor the Punjab government, but I believe he was referring to the systematic corruption that we all agree exists,’ he said and added all politicians should be ‘more tolerant and should sit together to clear things.
He hoped that both sides should try to defuse and clear misunderstandings.
On Wednesday, Information and Culture Minister Azma Bokhari said: ‘Shafay Hussain’s recent interviews have been supportive of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, so we have no plan to denotify him from the Punjab cabinet. Shafay Hussain has rejected Salik’s allegations,’ MsBokhari said responding to Dawn’s queries.
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 no-confidence vote in 2022.
While Chaudhry Parvez Elahi and his son former federal minister Moonis Elahi aligned themselves with the PTI, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain’s sons, Salik and Shafay, chose to side with the Sharifs. Zulgernain Tahir