By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party, a key ally in the ruling coalition, said on Saturday that it would give the government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif additional time to address a series of demands, including the use of a federal welfare program to deliver aid to flood victims, as tensions between the two parties showed signs of easing after weeks of public acrimony.
The announcement came after a meeting of the Peoples Party’s Central Executive Committee, held on the 18th anniversary of the 2007 Karsaz bombing, in which twin blasts killed more than 180 people during a homecoming procession for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
The party, which is a partner in the federation but holds no cabinet positions, has been pressing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the dominant force in the coalition, to act on issues ranging from disaster relief to local governance and economic pressures. The discord between the allies emerged last month, following devastating monsoon rains and flooding that ravaged parts of Punjab and other provinces.
Peoples Party leaders advocated for deploying the Benazir Income Support Program, a federal cash-transfer initiative, to provide immediate assistance to affected families. That push met resistance from the Punjab provincial government, which is controlled by the Muslim League-Nawaz. The disagreement quickly escalated into a broader political clash. Peoples Party figures publicly accused the Punjab administration of politicising relief efforts and bypassing federal mechanisms. In response, Muslim League-Nawaz ministers expressed frustration with the income support program’s structure.
Rana Sanaullah, a prominent party leader, called for a complete overhaul, arguing that it was unfit in its current form. The back-and-forth intensified with near-daily counteraccusations. Earlier this month, the Peoples Party staged walkouts from sessions of the Senate and National Assembly to protest what it described as insults from Punjab’s Muslim League-Nawaz leadership, including criticism over the controversial Cholistan canal project and the party’s governance in Sindh Province.
At a news conference after Saturday’s committee meeting, Peoples Party Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman emphasised the urgency of using the income support program for flood relief, highlighting its international recognition and proven track record. “The world recognises BISP and knows that those affected by flooding need immediate assistance at their doorstep,” the senator said. “If their doorstep has been washed away, then the aid can be directly disbursed into their account.”
She added: “We have demanded that the first tranche of aid be disbursed. Rather than engaging in political mudslinging, the government should review how we immediately distributed aid through BISP during the 2022 floods.” “We want the federal government to take notice of Chairman Bilawal’s demands and disburse aid to affected areas,” Rehman said, referring to Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the party’s chairman.
Nadeem Afzal Chan, another Peoples Party leader, outlined the decision to extend more time to the federal government. He listed demands that included reforms to the system for electing local government bodies in Punjab, measures to curb rising energy costs and policies on crop imports. “There are some promises that the prime minister promised to fulfil during our last meeting,” Chan said. “He said, ‘these are the people’s issues’ and requested time. Today, at the CEC, the president and chairman delivered a full briefing and the meeting decided to give the [PML-N] leadership more time.”
“However, our demands, which are those of the public, still stand,” he added. “When we have our next CEC, hopefully in a few months, then we will review the situation.”
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