- Khurshid Shah wants PPP to come tough on PML-N govt on CEC appointment, NISP
- Nisar major ‘irritant’ in cordiality between govt and opposition
Pakistan Today sources Friday caught the top leadership of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) whinging an attention seeking behaviour, grumbling over the premier’s “unrequited love” for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) skipper.
Source in PPP told Pakistan Today that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s recent visit to the residence of PTI Chairman Imran Khan for discussion over Taliban talks had left PPP top brass with “serious burn injuries”.
Envious over Nawaz’s preference for Khan, the PPP leaders have reportedly rolled up sleeves to give the government a “tough time” on a host of issues, including the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC).
Sources said that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari were concerned and unhappy over the way the PML-N government had given preference to the PTI in matters of national significance and importance.
NISAR MAJOR IRRITANT:
Sources say that the PPP leadership viewed Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan as a major “irritant” in cordiality between the PML-N and PPP leaderships.
“The prime minister has made a political blunder by visiting Imran Khan’s residence and he would have to pay the political price for it as this has established PTI as a major political player despite efforts by PPP to sideline Khan,” a source close to opposition leader Syed Khursheed Shah said.
The source added that Shah had left for Karachi to attend a meeting with former president Zardari, during which the future course of action would be chalked out.
“Shah would propose the PPP chairman and co-chairman to approve tit-for-tat policy under which a real tough time will be given to the ruling party,” the source said, adding that if PML-N contacted PPP, they might be asked to activate Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to play another reconciliatory role, as he was a “saner element” within PML-N ranks who had a “good understanding of issues”.
Under the proposal, the PPP would come tough on the PML-N government during the upcoming session of the National Assembly scheduled to be held on March 24, while non-cooperation may also be observed when the prime minister sends three nominations to leader of the opposition for appointment of chief election commissioner.
“Since the PPP has expressed its goodwill to the government on dialogue with TTP, the prime minister should have also briefed the PPP leaders on the dialogue,” the source close to Shah maintained.
Shah is also set to give his input in writing to the government on National Internal Security Policy (NISP) and it is likely that Shah might give his detailed input in writing on ‘secret and strategic’ portion of the 100-page draft of NISP.
Shah also allegedly wants to dub Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar a major hurdle in cordial ties between the two parties as Nisar had alleged that the opposition leader commented on the draft without reading the contents of the policy.
PML-N DENIES SPECIAL TREATMENT:
Talking to Pakistan Today, Special Assistant to Prime Minister, Irfan Siddiqui said that any perception that the PTI was being given undue importance and PPP was being ignored was baseless.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited Imran Khan just because Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, being directly affected by anything happening in and around FATA, is a major stakeholder in the dialogue process and it is also directly affected by terrorism. Since PTI is ruling KP, it was necessary to take on board the KP administration. So this visit was geography specific,” Siddiqui said.
He said it was wrong to assume that the PPP was being ignored in discussions on talks with the Taliban. “Nothing is happening behind the curtains so no political party can claim that anything is being kept secret,” he added.
“The PPP during its government had introduced a policy of 3Ds which included dialogue, deterrence and development. So they also wanted dialogue with the TTP,” said Irfan Siddiqui, adding that the PPP had no reason for opposing the dialogue process now.
