PPP warns calm is temporary

Chan says 'guns silenced till CEC moot'; Gilani asserts party owes no loyalty to PML-N

LAHORE:

A day after guns from both sides fell silent following the intervention of the President and the Prime Minister, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has made it clear that its restraint is temporary — only until October 18 — as tensions with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) remain unresolved.

PPP Central Information Secretary Nadeem Afzal Chan, speaking at a ceremony in Sheikhupura, said that their leadership had ordered members to "keep their hands to themselves" until October 18.

It is pertinent to mention that, according to PPP Punjab leaders, the party intends to push for permission during its Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting — the party's apex decision-making body — to move from the treasury to the opposition benches in order to give a "tough time" to the Maryam Nawaz-led government.

A day earlier, the PPP had cancelled its planned press conference after leaders from both sides were instructed to refrain from issuing verbal attacks.

Taking a swipe at Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, Nadeem Chan said, "We do not have the slogan of Jag Punjabi Jag".

He added that their slogans were "for the solidarity of the country" and that the PPP was a national party. He accused those in government of having "occupied graveyards and Auqaf land".

He further remarked that "there are some parties wherein people give money just to meet their leadership".

PPP Member of the National Assembly (MNA) Ali Qasim Gilani also hit out at the ruling party, saying, "Pakistan Peoples Party is an ally of the government, with whose votes the Prime Minister is sitting on the chair. We have no duty nor do we get a fee to praise any party".

He added that "PPP has kicked the prime minister's chair in the past and small positions have no value before them. We are not obliged to support them," he said, asserting that "PPP is a party of workers".

The MNA further said, "The PPP has given the Benazir Income Support Programme to women, mothers, and sisters. What sin did they commit by asking for help through BISP for flood victims?" He pledged that "they will continue to fight the case of the people of Sheikhupura in the National and Punjab Assembly".

"They should not mistake our kindness for weakness," Gilani warned.

PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Syed Hasan Murtaza, without naming the PML-N, remarked that "you are in the government because of the PPP." He said, "We do not want to weaken you or upset the playing field of democracy."

"When we talk about farmers, you make it a fight between Sindh and Punjab. The PPP will fight for the rights of our Punjabi brothers," Murtaza asserted.

He questioned whether the government believed politics was about "uniting or dividing," criticising the PML-N for "picking fights left and right."