PM discusses political, economic situation with Zardari, Fazl

Former president Asif Ali Zardari and chief of JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Thursday to discuss the overall political situation in the country.

Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Minister for Economic and Political Affairs Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafiq were also present in the meeting.

Sources told Express News that the three leaders discussed elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. They also discussed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme and the overall financial condition of the country during the meeting, the sources revealed.

Read more: Shehbaz, Zardari discuss political situation

This is the second meeting between Asif Ali Zardari and Shehbaz Sharif in two days.

The meeting comes as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has resigned from its National Assembly seats and dissolved the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies, calling for early general elections in the country.

PTI's 123 MNAs had resigned on April 11, 2022, when Imran was ousted through a no-confidence motion by the then-united opposition and the incumbent ruling alliance.

The PTI and its allied PML-Q have also slammed the Election Commission of Pakistan's decision to appoint opposition nominee Mohsin Naqvi as caretaker chief minister of Punjab,

Also read: ECP denotifies 43 PTI lawmakers

Media mogul Mohsin Naqvi was picked by the ECP after the ruling party and the opposition in the province failed to reach consensus on any name for the post.

On Tuesday, a large number of PTI workers and supporters responded to the call of their party chief Imran Khan, staging protests outside the ECP office in Lahore to denounce the body’s decision to appoint Naqvi.

The PTI and PML-Q have vowed to approach the courts over Naqvi's appointment.