ISLAMABAD: Senior PTI leader Asad Qaiser on Monday urged the PPP to table a no-confidence motion against the PML-N-led government at the Centre, calling on the Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led party to stop its “friendly fire”.
PPP staged a walkout from the NA on Monday as tensions with the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) continue to escalate.
Speaking on the floor of the NA, after PPP walked out of the session, Qaiser assured his party’s support for the no-confidence motion.
PML-N and PPP are engaged in a fierce war of words over flood relief, water resources and their respective provincial governments’ performances in Sindh and Punjab.
“If they [PPP’s leadership] are serious, they should bring a no-confidence [motion], and we will support it,” says Qaiser.
He added: “We will help them topple the [PML-N-led] government [in Centre]. I am offering — bring a no-confidence now and you will have our complete support.”
Earlier, PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf voiced concern over remarks made by a Punjab government minister about Sindh and his party.
Speaking on the floor of the House, PPP’s Ashraf lamented the ongoing conflict between the two allies.
“I will not name anyone or add to the controversy, but I have been deeply hurt by this,” he added.
“The irresponsible statements [made by the PML-N leaders] have not only hurt me, but also every PPP worker and the common Pakistani,” he added.
The PPP leader was of the view that such rifts would hurt national unity and weaken the federation.
The PPP leader concluded by saying that his party would not participate in the NA proceedings until they get a clarification on the statements issued against Sindh and the PPP.
Zardari calls Naqvi to Karachi
As the exchange of blows intensified, President Asif Ali Zardari stepped in to calm down the tensions between the PPP and PML-N.
President Zardari spoke with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi over the phone to discuss the ongoing dispute between Sindh and Punjab, according to a post on the President of Pakistan’s official X account.
“The President has called the Interior Minister to Karachi for an urgent meeting in this regard,” it added.
PPP has, earlier this month, staged walkouts from the National Assembly and Senate sessions over Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s criticism of the Sindh government.
The party had demanded that the Punjab CM should apologise for her cutting statements, a demand swiftly rejected by her and the Punjab government ministers.
While reiterating her party’s stance on the rehabilitation of flood affectees, PPP Vice Chairman Senator Sherry Rehman lamented that a war of words was going on at a time when people in the flood-hit areas were awaiting aid.
“We are asking for aid for the flood affectees in Punjab. It is weird ff somebody is irked by it,” she said.
In an apparent reference to the Punjab CM’s remarks that “there is no need to beg for money when we can spend on our own people”, the PPP leader said that “you are still asking the IMF [International Monetary Fund] for Climate Fund”.
Senator Rehman criticised the Punjab government for allegedly revoking PPP leader Ali Haider Gilani’s security details.
“Everybody knows that Ali Haider Gilani has been abducted before. The Punjab government still revoked his security details,” she stated.
