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Sources say PM expressed concern over former PM’s confrontational approach
LAHORE: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has reportedly urged Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif to persuade his elder brother, ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif to avoid confrontation with the state institutions, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Informed sources claimed that Abbasi told the younger Sharif that a large number of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmakers, including cabinet ministers, were getting increasingly concerned by Nawaz’s incessant criticism of the army and judiciary.
The PM told Shehbaz that such confrontation could cause problems for the government; therefore, he should play his role.
Sources said that only Hamza Shehbaz was present during the meeting between the PM and Punjab CM.
On the other hand, a Punjab government spokesman denied that disgruntled federal minister Riaz Pirzada and former PML-N MNA Mir Zafarullah Jamali were also present in the meeting. The spokesman said that the PM had called on the CM to inquire about his health following an eye operation.
It was earlier reported that Chaudhry Nisar had driven Shehbaz to the hospital for the operation.
These developments come amid reports that a large number of PML-N leaders are backing Shehbaz Sharif for the party’s top position until the time the elder Sharif gets his name cleared from the graft references filed against him by NAB.
Sources said that the PM’s intervention in the issue had dropped a clear hint that he too was opposed to Nawaz’s aggressive stance, and was now asserting his authority as the party’s Leader of the House.
