ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PMLQ) leader Moonis Elahi said on Thursday that former Chief of the Army Staff Gen (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa had advised them to stand with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

In an interview with a private TV channel, the son of Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said that they had offers from both the camps (PDM and PTI) when the situation was critical in the wake of no-confidence motion against former prime minister Imran Khan but General (retd) Bajwa advised them to back the PTI.

“Certain elements are busy on social media bashing Bajwa Sahib without any reason. This is the same Bajwa who changed the course of rivers for the PTI. Then he [Bajwa] was right, but now he is not. I’ve a total disagreement with those who are now talking against him,” Moonis said.

“When he was giving you all-out support, he was right,” the PMLQ MNA said, wondering that if Bajwa had now become a traitor for them.

“I’ve asked PTI office-bearers to sit with me on a TV show and prove that he is a traitor, and I will tell you exactly what he [Bajwa] has done for you.”

Moonis said that there was no doubt that former COAS Bajwa fully supported the PTI, but when he withdrew his support, he had become a bad person. “This is a bad example and I have a disagreement with them on it. He [Bajwa] was never against the PTI,” Moonis added.

“Had he [Bajwa] been against them [PTI] at that juncture, he just had to give a signal, and we would have been sitting with them [PDM],” Moonis said.

He said that they had no contact with the new establishment.

Moonis said when the establishment says that they have nothing to do with politics, he buys that because they have not influenced the Punjab government.

The PMLQ leader added that his inclination was with the PTI and he also talked to his father on the matter.

On dissolution of assemblies, Moonis said that his party was of the opinion that general elections should be held as soon as possible because the popularity of Imran Khan was at the peak at the time. “This is favourable for both the PTI and its allies,” he added.

He said that if the elections are held only in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after dissolution of assemblies, they would return with more majority for the next five years.

Moonis said the judiciary has established its neutrality and everyone knows this. “Courts have removed their blemishes.”