• Parvez Elahi says he is trying to improve ties between Imran Khan and establishment.
• Elahi agrees that establishment was indeed neutral.
• Says Imran Khan wants early election for national assembly constituencies only.

Former prime minister Imran Khan and the establishment were not on the same page when it came to the foreign policy of Pakistan, reveals leader of the PML-Q.

Talking to the Voice of America Urdu, Parvez Elahi, the chief of PML-Q which has sided with Khan’s PTI after he was ousted from power, said that there were several issues which had created differences between the former premier and the establishment. One such issue was foreign policy, he explained.

“Some of these issues [of foreign policy] were resolved,” said Elahi, “While some misunderstandings were created regarding Saudi Arabia and other countries.”

But the speaker of the Punjab assembly added that he is trying to improve ties between Khan and the establishment these days. “I keep telling him [Khan] that our direction should be to only hit our political rivals,” he said.

Elahi agreed that the establishment was indeed neutral, and the fact that a vote of no confidence had succeeded against a sitting prime minister was an indication of the neutrality.

When asked if Elahi will take charge as governor after the former governor of Punjab was sacked, he replied that he is still consulting his lawyers and has been advised to wait for the conclusion of the cases pending in courts.

On early polls, Elahi said that Imran Khan wanted an early election for the national assembly constituencies only.

“He wants the provincial assemblies to complete their terms,” Elahi told VOA Urdu, “there is no harm in holding polls for the national assembly now and provincial assemblies later.”

Dismissing rumours of a split between his family and the PML-Q, he said Chaudhry Shujaat has clearly stated that there is no rift within the family, adding that those from his party who have ministries in the government also know that when this government is done “they will have to come home”.