Islamabad: Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has instructed the speakers of the national assembly and Punjab’s provincial assembly to take active steps to address concerns raised by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The directive came during a consultative session held in Model Town, Lahore, to review the current political climate, sources revealed yesterday. The meeting included National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan.

According to officials, discussions focused on the PPP’s grievances as well as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protests, which have raised concerns of potential political instability. To ease tensions with the PPP, the prime minister had previously set up a committee dedicated to resolving their issues.

Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan has urged the PML-N led Punjab government to honor its commitment with the PPP, stating that the committees formed by the two parties to resolve issues have yielded no results yet making it necessary for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene.

“No one trusts the PTI due to its history of vandalism during protests. To prevent unrest, containers have been placed in strategic locations.” He claimed that no protests would emerge from Punjab. He also dismissed any guarantee of the PTI conducting peaceful demonstrations.

Regarding foreign relations, he commended improvements in diplomatic ties under PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s tenure as the foreign minister during the last coalition government.

The governor condemned accusations levelled against Saudi Arabia, a longstanding ally of Pakistan, by Bushra Bibi, the wife of incarcerated former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan.

Published in The Daily National Courier, November, 25 2024

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