- Khattak’s inclusion raises concerns among PML-N leaders.
- Some leaders avoided speaking to him for 15-16 years.
- Claims of Punjab domicile preference within PML-N raised.
ISLAMABAD: Some Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have expressed reservations about the inclusion of Pervez Khattak, a former close aide of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding-chairman Imran Khan, in the federal cabinet.
Speaking on Geo News’ programme Naya Pakistan, PML-N leader Ikhtiar Wali said that certain party members were displeased with including Khatakk, who served as the defence minister and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister during PTI’s separate tenures, into the cabinet.
He revealed that due to past political differences, some PML-N leaders had refrained from speaking to Khattak for the past 15 to 16 years.
Wali also claimed that within PML-N, there was a growing perception that those without a Punjab domicile often find themselves sidelined in the party.
Khattak was among more than politicians appointed to the federal cabinet last week. The former PTI leader has been made the adviser to the prime minister.
As a result, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif doubled the federal cabinet strength, taking the total strength from 25 to 50, with the appointment of 12 federal ministers, nine ministers of state, three advisers to the prime minister and four special assistants to the prime minister.
Khattak had stepped down from his position in the PTI in June 2023 in the wake of the May 9 riots and later formed his own party, PTI-Parliamentarians.
However, after a humiliating general election campaign in which he failed to win any of the seats he contested, the former defence minister stepped down from his party position.