ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz’s chief Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday gave Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani 72 hours to agree to key reforms, otherwise threatening to expel the ruling party from government in Punjab province.

Nawaz Sharif delivered the ultimatum with Gilani scrambling to keep his government alive since losing his majority on Sunday when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) quit to join the opposition.

“The prime minister should tell us within the next 72 hours if he can do it. If he does not tell us or says he cannot do it, then we will part ways with them in Punjab also,” Nawaz Sharif said.

Nawaz Sharif took his Pakistan Muslim League-N party out of the federal government in August 2008. So far his party has stopped short of calling for a vote of no-confidence in the government, which if passed, could force snap elections.