Spokesperson for the group, Mian Khalid Mahmood, questioned the prime minister's selection of Pervaiz Elahi for the role. He asked if there were no capable individual among the 184 PTI party workers who could fulfil the role. He also wondered how Prime Imran Khan could nominate Elahi, whom he used to call a 'thief and robber'.
"Surprised to know that Pervez Elahi will now be making a Naya Pakistan. If he was capable of it, why was there even a need to create PTI; Elahi had already been in politics for the past 42 years," Mahmood said.
He further affirmed that they would support the opposition's no-trust motion against the prime minister 'unconditionally' and called on the Jahangir Tareen group to do the same.
Following the announcement of his candidacy as chief minister, Elahi reportedly began campaigning among disgruntled members of the PTI, attempting to persuade them to vote for him as CM and woo them back into the party's fold.
In discussions with the Jahangir Tareen Group, Elahi reported that his son, Federal Minister for Water Resource Moonis Elahi, had spoken to Mr. Tareen's son Ali to 'galvanise' their group's support.