PPP leader Hassan Murtaza said on Sunday that unless the PML-N eases the PPP’s reservations and includes them in policymaking, their coalition “will not survive.”
There have been tensions between the PPP and the ruling PML-N, and Ali Haider Gilani, parliamentary leader of the PPP in the Punjab Assembly, said Sunrise in June that despite a written agreement, the PML-N was trying to backtrack when it came to the implementation of the agreement between the two parties.
According to their written agreement, finalized after multiple rounds of meetings, the PML-N government in Punjab was supposed to include the PPP in important administrative decisions and transfer seats in two districts, Multan and Rahim Yar Khan, where the PPP has more legislators. . .
In November, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari issued a scathing critique of his ruling ally, expressing frustration over the “lack of respect” his party felt despite being in the coalition and failing to honor agreements between the two parties.
The PPP chairman, in an informal conversation with journalists at Bilawal House, also accused the PML-N of failing to fulfill its commitments after the passage of the 26th Constitutional Amendment. He also hinted at a possible review of the PPP’s eight-month alliance at the Center with the PML-N-led government at the PPP Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting.
On December 18, PPP lawmakers went on strike at the National Assembly (AN) to protest the continued and “insulting” absence of federal ministers from the proceedings. Most recently, on December 23, the PPP chairman criticized the country’s internet slowdown and restrictions, calling them “another effort to control and censor citizens” amid his party’s tensions with the government.
Answer a question during DawnTV News program ‘Doosra Rukh With Nadir Guramani linked to what the PPP would do if the PML-N did not change its methods, the leader said: “It could jeopardize the alliance.”
“If the PML-N continues on this path, this alliance will not survive. I don’t think the PML-N is going to change, because they gave a lot of space to the opposition. They think that if they give space to the PPP they will be left with nothing,” he added.
He added that this last option would be taken after the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting.
He said reservations were an inherent part of coalitions between parties with different ideologies and interests.
“The reserves are part of a coalition government because their ideologies and manifestos are different,” Murtaza said. “The PPP position must be incorporated into any policy-making process. “We want a good environment for democracy and politics.”
When asked about what decisions the PPP should have been given input on, Murtaza responded that the decisions made regarding agriculture “were against PPP policy.”
Murtaza said the internet restrictions were also against APP policy, adding: “It should not be that people who use the internet correctly are punished by those who use it for wrong purposes.
“We have said that there needs to be a code of conduct. “This is an industry worth billions of dollars,” he emphasized.
The PPP leader added that due to unilateral decisions, the government was not participating in “power sharing.”
“They talk about political actors and power sharing, but they will appoint police and local government officials loyal to them,” he added. “Why would we want to be a part of this? “This is not how we govern.”
When asked about the relationship between the PPP and Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who is blamed for the internet restrictions, Murtaza replied: “He was never part of the party, but he maintains good relations with our leadership.” The PPP leader maintained that if the Interior Minister receives support from the party, it does not mean that he is part of the PPP.
‘They have to fulfill their obligations’
Murtaza, speaking about PPP’s reservations on Punjab, said the party is “loyal to the PML-N, not [Punjab Chief Minister] “Maryam Nawaz.”
“Who Maryam likes is her business, we don’t want to get involved in that,” he said. “We say that the written agreement between the PML-N and the PPP must be honored, regardless of what happens in their own house.”
The PPP leader said there was “a fight within the PML-N house”, maintaining that the PPP is allied with the federal government.
When asked about the nature of the “fight”, Murtaza explained that the fight centers on favoritism within the PML-N camp, but said it should not hinder the written agreement between the parties.
“If the PML-N wants to remain allied with us, then it must unite as a party and fulfill its obligations.”
