PPP to pay ‘huge cost’ if it aligns with PML-N: Chan

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader Nadeem Afzal Chan has said that his party would have to pay a huge cost if it joins a ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

“There are two big parties: PML-N and PPP. If PTI does not accept political dialogue in these circumstances, what other option does the PPP have?  Neither the PPP worker nor the party’s leadership wants to sit with PML-N,” he said during an interview with a private TV channel.

Nadeem said that PML-N was not a priority of his party. However, he added that a situation may arise where it becomes a compulsion.

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“The biggest compulsion is that the PTI people should accept political dialogue because at present there is a lot of public hatred against the PML-N. Anyone who shakes hands with the PML-N will have to bear a lot of [political] loss. And then, there are these [engineered] elections where they have snatched seats from people,” he added.

PPP leader said that people have given PTI founder Imran Khan their votes and that their mandate should be respected. “People have rebelled against the system and victimisation. People have voted for me because I have spoken against the system. Bilawal became popular because he criticised the system and the PML-N,” he added.

When asked whether PPP was going to sit with PML-N in the assembly, he cautioned that it was premature to express a definitive stance. Nonetheless, his inclination was for the party to refrain from aligning with PML-N.