Take allies on board, Nawaz advises PM

Meeting of coalition partners today to mull over challenges ahead

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD:

The senior leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) met here on Sunday to discuss various matters, including a meeting of the ruling coalition parties on Monday (today), party sources said.

The sources said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the PML-N Chief Organiser Maryam Nawaz, adding that the meeting was also attended by party supremo Nawaz Sharif via a video link.

They discussed various party matters, including the award of tickets to the candidates for the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) assemblies, besides the overall law and order situation in the country, particularly in Punjab.

The meeting expressed concern over the attack by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers on the police and security institutions. According to the sources, Nawaz directed the prime minister to ensure the implementation of the law in every case.

"We always respected the institutions and courts and appeared whenever we were called," a sources quoted Nawaz Sharif as saying in the meeting. He also directed the prime minister to take all the decisions in consultation with the allies.
While discussing the upcoming provincial assembly elections, Nawaz stressed the need for awarding the party tickets to workers who had rendered sacrifices for the party in Punjab and K-P.

The meeting came on the eve of an important meeting of the coalition partners, called by the prime minister on Monday (today). The prime minister took Nawaz and Maryam into confidence regarding the meeting.

Shehbaz has called the meeting of coalition party leadership at 2pm to deliberate on the current situation. Proposals from the coalition parties would also come under discussion regarding the two provincial elections as well as the prevailing law and order situation.

According to the Prime Minister House sources, invitations to the leaders of the coalition parties, including the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), to attend the meeting had been dispatched.