PPP almost broke away from PML-N in Punjab

As the PML-N-led rule in Punjab finally cobbled up and formed its long-delayed cabinet, ending the political limbo in the province, sources revealed on Tuesday that tensions erupted between the party and the allied PPP over the share of ministries just before the governor administered the oath to the Punjab cabinet.

The midnight swearing-in ceremony followed the eleventh-hour manoeuvrings by the PPP to claw its way into the cabinet’s senior slots as the alliance nearly “teetered on the edge”, the sources said, adding that the situation unfolded after the PML-N refused to give senior ministry to the PPP.

Subsequently, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari stopped the party ministers from taking the oath, following which Hassan Murtaza and Ali Haider Gilani immediately left the Governor House and “went back to their homes", they said.

However, the crisis prompted immediate intervention from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who in a bid to heal the rifts assured the PPP of a sizeable share in the cabinet, including senior ministries and a separate secretariat.

It was only after the assurances from the prime minister that the PPP nominees – Hassan Murtaza and Ali Haider Gilani – reached the Governor House to take the oath.

The PPP will have five ministries, including a senior provincial minister. In the first phase, two lawmakers will be inducted while three will be administered oaths in the second phase.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz Sharif has convened the first formal meeting of the newly minted provincial cabinet on Wednesday (today).