- Khattak’s inclusion raises concerns among PML-N leaders.
- Some leaders avoided talking to him for 15-16 years.
- Punjab’s preference claims within PML-N raised.
Islamabad: Some leaders of the Pakistan-Nawaz Muslim League (PML-N) have expressed reservations about the inclusion of Pervez Khattak, a former close assistant of Pakistan Tehreek-E-Insaf (PTI), the Imran Khan founding chair, in the federal cabinet.
Talk about PakGazette News’ Naya Pakistan program, leader of PML-N, Ikhtiar Wali, said certain party members were disgusted by the inclusion of Khatakk, who served as Minister of Defense and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister at Prime Minister during the separate holdings of PTI, in the cabinet.
He revealed that due to past political differences, some PML-N leaders had refrained from talking to Khattak during the last 15 to 16 years.
Wali also said that within PML-N, there was a growing perception that those without a domicile of Punjab are often marginalized in the party.
Khattak was among the more than the designated politicians for the federal cabinet last week. The former PTI leader has been an advisor to the Prime Minister.
As a result, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif double the force of the federal cabinet, taking the total strength of 25 to 50, with the appointment of 12 federal ministers, nine state ministers, three prime minister advisors and four special assistants for the prime minister.
Khattak had resigned from his position in the PTI in June 2023 following the disturbances of May 9 and then formed his own party, the PTI-Parliament.
However, after a humiliating general electoral campaign in which none of the seats he played could win, the former defense minister resigned from his party post.
