LAHORE – In response to the PML-N’s decision to part ways with the PPP in Punjab, PPP leaders on Friday renewed their pledge to continue politics of reconciliation in the province. However, other political forces called the move “a start of a new power game in Punjab”.
Federal Minister for Labour and Manpower Khurshid Shah said the PPP would play the opposition’s role in Punjab, adding however, that it would continue its policy of reconciliation. He said PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was trying to change the coalition setup with the help of turncoats. PPP Punjab Finance Secretary Aurangzeb Barki said that the PPP could have formed its government in Punjab with the help of the independent members of the assembly but the party had decided to follow the policy of reconciliation.
Senior politician Sheikh Rashid said with the PML-N’s latest decision, it was the beginning of politics of Lahore, a natural mode of politics practiced by the Sharifs. He said that the PPP’s ouster was part of a “game plan” in a well-written script giving an impression that the PML-N would now emerge as the real opposition.
“This fake fighting between the PML-N and the PPP will continue without triggering a political turmoil.” All Pakistan Muslim League spokesman Fawad Chaudhry said, the war between the two parties would adversely affect the government’s performance and would cripple the economy.
He said Nawaz always uttered false and baseless statements.
PML-Q central leader Raja Basharat said that Nawaz claimed that the Unification Bloc originally belonged to the PML-N, which is totally baseless. Jamaat-e-Islami’s Farid Ahmed Piracha described the PML-N’s step as “start of power politics based on confrontation like in the 90s.”
After the PML-N’s decision, he said the country would suffer more due to the political instability created by the PML-N.
