LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday assured senior party leader Chaudhry Nisar of redressal of latter’s grievances, saying that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) needed him to keep on with its pro-development agenda.
PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif and Chaudhry Nisar met on Sunday which was their third meeting in a week.
During the meeting, Shehbaz said: “We want this journey to continue and for doing so, it is vital to remove all differences within the party ranks.” In a reported two-hour long meeting, both leaders discussed recent defections of south Punjab party leaders as well as a strategy for the upcoming general elections.
Additionally, multiple issues within the party, ways to strengthen the party, and Shehbaz’s recent trip to Karachi and Peshawar also came under discussion.
The rift between Nisar, a veteran party leader from Rawalpindi, and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif has been brewing since July last year following Nawaz’s disqualification and party’s subsequent “anti-judiciary drive”.
PML-N’s new president and his aides, contrary to Nawaz Sharif’s views, are of the opinion that the party should wait for the accountability court’s decision instead of escalating confrontation with the judiciary after the apex court’s verdict.
The Rawalpindi-based PML-N leader, Nisar, has been at odds with the party leadership, especially the daughter of the former premier, Maryam Nawaz, and has given multiple statements against her. Recently both leaders had also indulged in spat concerning party tickets.