PM Shehbaz directs Punjab, NA speakers to address PPP concerns

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has instructed the speakers of the national assembly and Punjab's provincial assembly to take active steps to address concerns raised by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

The directive came during a consultative session held in Model Town, Lahore, to review the current political climate, party sources reported on Sunday.

The meeting included National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan.

According to officials, discussions focused on the PPP’s grievances as well as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protests, which have raised concerns of potential political instability.

To ease tensions with the PPP, the prime minister had previously set up a committee dedicated to resolving their issues.

Punjab governor asks PML-N to fulfil promises

Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider Khan has urged the PML-N led Punjab government to honor its commitment with the PPP, stating that the committees formed by the two parties to resolve issues have yielded no results yet making it necessary for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene.

Khan said this on Saturday during his meeting with Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Zaheer Iqbal Channar. The Punjab governor belongs to the PPP which is not a part of the federal or Punjab governments but has been propping up the PML-N since ouster of the PTI government in April 2022.

Khan said a functional coalition between the PML-N and the PPP would be beneficial for the country, warning that if the coalition government fails, it would primarily harm the PML-N, which currently leads the government.

The governor also criticized the PTI for failing to conduct peaceful protests, accusing the party of using protests to create chaos. He said repeated protests have disrupted daily life. The governor was referring to the PTI's proposed march to Islamabad that is scheduled to take place today (Sunday).

"No one trusts the PTI due to its history of vandalism during protests. To prevent unrest, containers have been placed in strategic locations." He claimed that no protests would emerge from Punjab. He also dismissed any guarantee of the PTI conducting peaceful demonstrations.

Regarding foreign relations, he commended improvements in diplomatic ties under PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's tenure as the foreign minister during the last coalition government.

The governor condemned accusations levelled against Saudi Arabia, a longstanding ally of Pakistan, by Bushra Bibi, the wife of incarcerated former prime minister and PTI founder Imran Khan.

"Such statements have strained relations between the two nations," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Zaheer Iqbal Channar said all grievances of coalition partners would be addressed and called for government measures that do not burden the common man.

"There is a need to consider human and social challenges during emergency measures [taken by authorities in view of the PTI's protest]. Ambulances stuck in traffic on highways should be immediately given passage on humanitarian grounds," he added.