ISLAMABAD: A verbal slugfest between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) intensified following the negotiations over remarks made by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz yielded no result. The PPP subsequently walked out of the National Assembly session
Former Prime Minister and PPP leader, Raja Pervez Ashraf, said that under the prevailing circumstances, it was not possible to sit in the House.
He stressed that matters would not improve until an apology was extended from Punjab. He added that government security had been withdrawn from the PPP’s parliamentary leader in Punjab, and deeply hurt by hostile statements against party leadership.
Following the PPP, members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have also boycotted the session. The National Assembly sitting was adjourned until a quorum was complete.
Conversely, PPP leader Sherry Rehman cautioned PML-N and its ally in the federal government, in the Senate, that the PPP is the largest party in the Upper House. She said that if an apology is not tendered, they will not extend their support. “Do not take our alliance lightly, no province is anyone’s fiefdom, and no one should play the provincial card,” she added.
Earlier, negotiations between the government and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) at speaker chamber ended without any result.
Prime Minister aide on political affairs and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sana Ullah apprised that the PPP would continue protest and walk out from the parliament.
Rana Sana Ullah informed that a meeting between President Asif Zardari and the premier Shahbaz Sharif was set for today but owing to the PM visit to Malaysia the meeting is not happening today.
The PM would talk on the PPP reservations after returning to his Malaysia visit, the PM aide said.
He clarified that the PPP has not demanded an apology from Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz.
The two coalition ruling parties have been passing statements against each other for weeks over an issue of provision of aid to the flood affected people of Punjab through Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) and seeking aid from the world donors for the worst floods in the history of Punjab.
Earlier in the day, President PML-N Nawaz Sharif has backed Maryam Nawaz in the ongoing row between the People’s Party and the Punjab government, sources said.
According to sources, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a meeting with the former prime minister, talked about the dispute and said that if Maryam Nawaz avoids harsh statements, the People’s Party will also observe ceasefire.
Nawaz Sharif, however, backed daughter Maryam Nawaz and said that the “Punjab chief minister’s statements are a reaction to the People’s Party’s undue criticism. Maryam Nawaz has truly represented the people of Punjab,” Nawaz Sharif told the prime minister. –Agencies
