After weeks of inter-provincial political sniping, the ruling allies, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), agreed to cease trading barbs early on Thursday, officials said, following an urgent high-level huddle between senior leaders of both parties.
The thaw came after PML-N scrambled a delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, to Zardari House in Nawabshah to ease the recent tensions between Punjab and Sindh. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi were also a part of the negotiating team that discussed the recent flare-up between the two provincial governments and ways to calm the situation.
According to sources, the President Zardari urged the PML-N delegation to speak to their party leaders and tone down inflammatory rhetoric that had been escalating for a while now. The PML-N side, in turn, put forward the same request, calling for reciprocity amid consensus that before making a statement, they will first listen to each other’s position.
Sources credited Dar with being instrumental in ending the misunderstandings between the parties. The understanding is intended to halt the cycle of tit-for-tat statements that has dominated political headlines in recent days.
Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has called a party Central Executive Committee meeting for October 18 at Bilawal House in Karachi to address the party’s next political steps and the recent tensions with PML-N, according to sources.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had earlier instructed party leaders to resolve the PPP’s concerns through dialogue. He stressed that working relations should not be damaged by political statements, according to officials.
The row began after Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz made some remarks related to the province’s water share leading the PPP to stage a walkout from the National Assembly and demanding an apology. Maryam responded that, as chief minister, she would defend Punjab and would not apologise for speaking up for her province.
For now, the message from Tuesday’s meeting is simple: both parties want to cool tempers and keep channels open. They have agreed to talk first, and spar publicly less — at least for the moment.
