Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. —Radio Pakistan/File 

Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi on Sunday reminded the "ungrateful" PTI of General Qamar Javed Bajwa's "favour" towards the party and warned it to keep criticism of the former army chief "in bounds".

In an interview with ARY's The Reporters, Elahi said that the PTI should "remember the favor of Bajwa sahab and not be ungrateful", adding that the former army chief "raised the party's stature from nothing" and supported the government on many international issues like is, for example, negotiating the purchase of funds from Pakistan's Arab allies or the International Monetary Fund.

"What do they (PTI) think of themselves? Have they descended from the heavens above? If any of them speak against Bajwa sahab, I will be the first to speak and then our whole party will."

"They made a joke out of it. Can a person be so ungrateful? Say what they want... stay within your limits. Nobody [will say anything now]," the chief minister said.

“Three months ago, I told [PTI chairman Imran] Khan sahab that Bajwa sahab is ours, yours and mohsin (benefactor) of PTI, so fear God and do not speak against him.

He said he reiterated the same in his meeting with the PTI chief a day ago at Imran's Zaman Park residence. "He (Imran) replied, 'I have received many requests [not to speak against Bajwa],' so I said, 'Then accept them,'" Elahi added.

Regarding Imran's subsequent announcement of the date of dissolution of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Assembly with two chief ministers by his side, during which he again criticized the former army chief, Elahi said, "The injustice that Imran Khan has done is that he will make us sit next to each other." criticized Bajwa sahab in front of me."

He said he "felt very bad" about the whole situation but could not raise the issue because there were too many people there and he did not have time to meet Imran in person. "We will not tolerate this. He is our mohsin and we will not hear anything against them," Parvez added.

Since General Bajwa's retirement, Imran has increasingly turned his criticism on the former army chief, leveling a series of allegations against him.

In his 50-minute speech earlier in the day, the former prime minister went on to chastise ex-army chief Bajwa for getting rid of him because he "did not allow him to take action against the corrupt nor let him know that he is playing a double game and getting the PML-N and its allies to bring the government through conspiracy'.

He personally claimed that Bajwa continued to assure him that the PTI government would not be overthrown nor would corrupt politicians be installed to rule the country. "I did not speak openly against General Bajwa because he was the army chief and any remark could earn the institution a bad name," Imran said.

Imran accused General Bajwa of unleashing torture, threats, humiliation and false cases against himself, his party leaders, officials, workers and even social media activists.

"Gen Bajwa made a mistake but he never realized it, even after seeing the reaction of the nation [who] sided with the [PTI] soon after my government was ousted," the PTI chief said.


Criticism of Gen Faiz

Parvez also complained that "Imran never made Moonis a minister" and further leveled allegations against former Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt Gen (R) Faiz Hameed, saying that "he has done injustice to us here and there to let arrest us."

He claimed that General Faiz was "vehemently opposed" and alleged that the former ISI chief called the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau at the time and told him to "arrest me and Moonis" at the time of Bajwa's extension.

"He crossed all limits," Parvez said, adding that he then called General Bajwa, who "set Faiz straight". "He (Gen Faiz) did not resist and then said that 'there were orders from above from Imran Khan'," Parvez added.

"So what is this treatment? When did we never support Imran?" the chief minister asked, adding that the PTI had "straightened out" and made Moonis a federal minister after supporting the PML-Q for the Senate elections.

He said God had "created such a situation" around the PTI and Imran that even Parvez's critics were saying that "if you (Imran) don't make Chaudhry sahab [Chief Minister], then your party will end... and the PML-N will come [to power ]."


Our unity is permanent: Moonis

Meanwhile, the chief minister's son, Moonis Elahi, held a meeting with Imran at his residence in Lahore where the two discussed pushing for a "common political agenda".



After the meeting, Moonis said, "Our unity is permanent and will continue to be."


Reacting to Parvez's comments during a press conference in Lahore, PTI Vice President Fawad Chaudhry said the chief minister had "his own party and his own views".

"He is a politician, so he will have his own views. As for his relationship with Imran Khan, it is based on respect and so far he has done whatever Imran has decided."

"He fully expressed his opinion but accepted Imran's decision and that is the beauty of this relationship and that is why PTI and PML-Q will be allies in the next elections," Chaudhry said.