ISLAMABAD: Current situation in Punjab in the wake of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) announcement regarding the dissolution of the provincial assembly is one of the key issues that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has decided to discuss in detail during its crucial meeting next week.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has called a meeting of the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) in Karachi on January 5 to weigh the prevailing political situation in the country.

Talking to Dawn here on Friday, PPP Secretary General Nayyar Bokhari said the meeting would be held on the eve of the birth anniversary of the party’s founding chairman Zulfikar Ali Bhutto at Bilawal House. However, he added, it would not be just a ceremonial meeting, as this time they would be discussing a host of national issues.

The PPP secretary general said the party leadership had planned this CEC meeting during the gathering of party leaders in Garhi Khuda Bukhsh on the occasion of the 15th death anniversary of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Punjab crisis, general elections among key issues to be discussed on Jan 5

Responding to a question, Mr Bokhari termed the CEC meeting ‘important’, stating that it would discuss crucial issues, including the next general elections and the current situation in the largest province in the wake of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) announcement regarding the dissolution of the Punjab assembly.

Besides, Mr Bokhari said, the PPP CEC would also receive a briefing from legal experts on some important proposed legislations.

Earlier in a statement, the secretary general of the party claimed that cracks had appeared in the ranks of the PTI, as majority of the party MNAs did not want to quit the National Assembly and they had already abandoned PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

After the announcement by the PTI that the party MNAs would meet Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf for verification of their resignations, senior party leaders like Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pervez Khattak and Asad Umar had gone missing, the PPP leader claimed.

He warned Mr Khan against making efforts to discourage foreign investors by predicting the country’s default “after himself devastating the country’s economy”.

Criticising Mr Khan for demanding early elections in the country, Mr Bokhari said that elections would be held on time and the PPP was determined to maintain continuity of the democratic process and supremacy of the Constitution in the country.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2022