Hamza to visit PPP office to get declared as joint opps’ candidate for CM Punjab

Decision to accept Hamza has been taken by central party leadership, says PPP’s Hasan Murtaza

LAHORE:

Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hamza Shehbaz on Saturday would visit Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) office in Lahore to apprise them about the party’s decision regarding the nominee for Punjab chief minister slot and get declared as a candidate for the joint opposition.

According to PPP sources, Hamza would meet PPP parliamentary leader Hasan Murtaza.

“PPP will be officially informed of the PML-N decision of nominating Hamza for CM Punjab position,” he said. “The decision to accept Hamza has been taken by central party leadership, so the meeting will be followed by a press conference wherein Hamza will be announced as joint opposition party’s candidate.”

Murtaza added that the decision of nominating Hamza as the opposition parties’ candidate did not go well with PPP, which was why this exercise of formally taking PPP on board was being done.

Read: PPP, PML-N at odds over Punjab CM slot

Earlier, both the government and opposition leaders laboured to secure the slot of the Punjab chief minister, the joint opposition appeared not only indecisive about their candidature, but also at odds over the coveted post.

Hours after PML-N nominated the opposition leader in the Punjab Assembly, Hamza, as the joint opposition’s candidate for the slot, the PPP – a major party of the joint opposition – shrugged its shoulders and insisted that Hamza was only PML-N’s candidate and did not represent the joint opposition’s preference for the top slot.

Zulfiqar Ali Badar, PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto’s spokesperson, told the Express Tribune that opposition parties have not yet made their decision regarding the CM Punjab slot, adding he was not aware of the PML-N’s announcement.

When informed of the press conference where the PML-N announced the decision, the PPP spokesperson said that it must be PML-N's “internal decision”.