ISLAMABAD: The top leadership of the ruling PML-N and its key ally PPP met on Thursday in an effort to sort out differences between them on certain issues related to governance and recent policy decisions taken by the federal and Punjab governments.

During the meeting held at the Prime Minister House and followed by a dinner, the PPP complained about the lack of implementation of the agreement reached between the two parties at the time of the formation of the government in February.

Sources in the two parties told Dawn that members of the PPP delegation headed by party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari apprised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet members about their grievances, mostly related to the Punjab government.

They agreed that the coordination committees of the two parties would meet at Governor House in Lahore on Sunday to “devise a mechanism to ensure regular coordination between the PPP and the Punjab government”.

Bilawal, PM Shehbaz hold talks, attend dinner; both sides agree to improve coordination

According to a handout issued by the PM Office, leaders of the two par­­­­ties reviewed the current political situation in the country. It quoted the PM as having stated that he had been working for the development and prosperity of the country in co­­ordination with the coalition parties.

Besides Mr Bhutto-Zardari, the PPP delegation comprised ex-PM Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, party’s parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman and MNA Naveed Qamar.

The prime minister was assisted by his deputy and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Adviser on Political and Public Affairs Rana Sanaullah, Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar.

The PM had called the meeting after the issues of soaring electricity tariffs and rightsizing of ministries as part of austerity measures triggered a war of words between the ruling allies.

The friction escalated on Friday when PML-N President Nawaz Sha­rif, alongside his daughter Maryam Nawaz, announced a Rs14 per unit relief for those consumers in Punjab who use between 200 and 500 units per month. This announcement was met with disdain from the PPP-led Sindh government and the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had accused the PML-N of introducing costly power plants decades ago, which, he argued, had led to the high electricity costs.

He had also accused the federal government of neglecting Sindh, claiming that many projects requiring federal funds remained stalled.

Besides, PPP had expressed serious reservations over the centre’s policy on rightsizing of ministries.

The sources said that during Thursday’s meeting, the PM told the PPP members that the Centre had not provided a single penny to the Punjab province for this relief and that the provincial government had arranged resources from its own budget.

The sources said that the two parties agreed to continue to cooperate with each other inside and outside the parliament. They claimed that during the meeting the PML-N showed its displeasure over the Sindh chief minister’s remarks about the party and termed them “inappropriate.”

When contacted, Ahsan Iqbal said the meeting took place in a “cordial atmosphere” and both sides were of the view that they would have to work together.

He confirmed that PPP had raised the issue of non-implementation of certain points of the agreement signed at the time of the formation of the government, but added that most of them were related to the Punjab government.

He said the PM had asked Rana Sanaullah to devise a mechanism for better coordination and working relationship between the PPP and the Punjab government.

In response to a question about the PPP’s grievances over the Punjab-only relief to power consumers, Mr Iqbal said the PM had told the PPP members that he would soon announce reforms in the power sector and that PPP would be taken into confidence before making such an announcement.

The two sides also discussed the upcoming legislative agenda as the government planned to convene the National Assembly session from Aug 26.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2024