Journalist Zulqarnain Tahir joined Waqas Ali on the Naya Daur TV show 'Islamabad Buzz' on Friday where he said that the federal government could potentially have governor rule imposed in Punjab —which is governed by the PTI— if Imran Khan announces the commencement of the long march soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Izuy5WizqM
Tahir said that although this decision would have legal repercussions later, as the governor can only impose governor rule on the advice of the chief minister of the province, the federal government would be tempted to go down this route nonetheless, as legal technicalities could be sorted out later. "The goal right now is to stop Imran's long march by force if needed, and because the establishment is siding with them, nobody is going to question anything," he said.
The two also discussed why PML-N was apparently not taking the upcoming by-polls in Punjab seriously, and why party Vice President Maryam Nawaz had chosen to go to London instead of extensively campaigning last time. Tahir said it was possible that PML-N was already in a defeatist mood after the last by-polls, or could possibly be wanting to use the fact that all the senior leadership was abroad as an excuse for a potential failure in the by-polls.
Waqas informed Tahir that Chaudhry Shujaat had allegedly recently had a 'very successful' meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, to which Tahir said that although the 10 Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) MPAs who voted for Pervez Elahi in the CM Punjab elections were all on Elahi's side, since they hadn't yet been given any ministry it was possible that they were feeling bitter over that, which could be leveraged.
They also discussed former PTI leader Aleem Khan's recent meeting with Nawaz Sharif in London, and Tahir said that Aleem had primarily escaped out of fear of being probed in connection with alleged irregularities in his housing scheme program.