Addressing grievances: Nisar accompanies Shahbaz for PM meeting

Interior minister will seek solution to thwart PTI’s long march, Qadri’s ‘revolution’.


Abdul Manan July 05, 2014

LAHORE:


In an effort to calm tempers within the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) , Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif brought estranged leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to Lahore on Friday ahead of a possible meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today, The Express Tribune has learnt.


The move came after a meeting of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders over Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s growing sense of estrangement.

The PML-N leaders met under the chairmanship of Premier Nawaz in Islamabad on Friday and were briefed by his brother about Nisar’s grievances with the party and other issues, particularly the case of former president Pervez Musharraf.

Shahbaz’s sons Hamza Shahbaz and Salman, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Defence and Energy Minister Khawaja Asif and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal were among those present at the meeting.

Prime Minister Nawaz left for Lahore after the meeting and asked Shahbaz to bring Nisar along for a meeting with him, sources said. According to them, the premier, Shahbaz and Nisar arrived in Lahore later on Friday and are likely to hold a meeting at Jati Umra today (Saturday) morning.

Bone of contention

According to sources, Nisar is annoyed with certain cliques within the party and Premier Nawaz’s decision to give Khawaja Asif’s opinion on the Musharraf issue precedence over his suggestion.

The interior minister was reportedly pushing for the removal of the former president’s name from the exit control list (ECL) following the latter’s indictment in March, insisting it would be best not to agitate the army.

Agenda of today’s meeting

Party sources said Nisar will ask Prime Minister Nawaz for a solution to tackle the August 14 long march announced by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Dr Tahirul Qadri’s planned ‘revolution’.

Sources said the interior minister will also advise Prime Minister Nawaz to review the party’s policy on Musharraf during today’s meeting.

Talking to The Express Tribune, PML-N MNA Talal Chaudhry said after today’s meeting, Nisar will resume his active role in politics and national affairs from next week. Rejecting reports that the interior minister had developed differences with the premier, he said, “Nisar’s view on Musharraf are clear, but sometimes the majority in a party prevails.”

“Sometimes, even Prime Minister Nawaz’s opinions and decisions are opposed by the majority in the party.”

Chaudhry added that Nisar had a big role in PML-N which could not be ignored easily.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2014.

COMMENTS (1)

iWarn | 9 years ago | Reply

Not very mature of the "Majority" in the party, that tells. Majority in the party will just jump the boat, only Sharif Bros will go down with it. Heavy electoral loss is expected if Nisar leaves for PTI or Army is further humiliated. This just should not be one of the party goals on the table who just won from only one province & is fighting to stay afloat.

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ