ISLAMABAD Rumors of Ahsan Iqbal’s resignation as Federal Minister for Planning and Development and leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) due to disagreements with Dr. Jehanzeb Khan, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, have been circulating on social media and in the media for the past few days.
The federal minister is not resigning, according to sources close to him, but he will call it quits and be open to taking any other job in the cabinet if he is not allowed to operate freely and the meddling persists.
When approached, Dr. Jehanzeb stated, “In these difficult times, the nation needs unity of thought.” Discord does not exist. We are all collaborating to improve the situation of regular people and bring about an economic renaissance.”He did not, however, respond to any of the concerns that were raised with him. Islamabad observers note that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is surrounded by members of his own team, whom he brought with him from Lahore; these individuals are technocrats devoid of any political experience.
In addition, Shehbaz is perceived as having established his own team that makes the decisions and keeping Nawaz Sharif’s group at a distance within the federal cabinet.
While those who remain in PM Shehbaz’s team are not as comfortable as they once were, the majority of Nawaz’s cabinet colleagues have already left the team. The prime minister’s office sources, however, dispute the notion that Nawaz’s team has been marginalized.
