Zardari asks PPP Punjab to wait for 'right moment'

Party leaders say criticism of CM Maryam Nawaz now off the table

LAHORE:

President Asif Ali Zardari, who arrived in the provincial capital on Thursday, used his stay in Lahore to counsel patience and organisational discipline, urging his party’s Punjab chapter to accelerate groundwork at the grassroots.

Coming on the heels of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s Lahore visit, the president reminded party workers that political tides change with time and advised them to rebuild public contact rather than rush into confrontation.

The president spent a busy day at his residence holding meetings with provincial party leaders on Saturday. During these interactions, he is said to have instructed party workers to step up the mass contact drive as the party recalibrates its Punjab strategy.

As part of his engagements, the president met Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider, senior leader Faisal Mir, MNA Makhdoom Murtaza Mehmood, Coordinator South Punjab Abdul Qadir Shaheen, MPA Alam Dar Qureshi, Malik Muzaffar and Zaki Chaudhary. 

The governor briefed the president on the political situation in the province and the challenges being faced by the party. According to party sources, the president directed the provincial chapter to intensify its outreach campaign.

Party sources said both the chairman’s and the president’s visits were private in nature and not formally connected to party political business.

A party leader said that as both leaders happened to be in Lahore for separate reasons, political engagements were scheduled around their extended stay in the provincial capital, helping the party better gauge its political lines and limits.

The leader said that criticising Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz was now off the table. He added that even Bilawal, while addressing the Peoples Students Federation (PSF) during his stay in Lahore, had categorically instructed party youth to refrain from targeting the Punjab chief minister.

According to him, it was this gesture that prompted the Punjab chief minister to post a welcoming message for Bilawal Bhutto on social media.