Nawaz Sharif is annoyed over PPP bashing

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is not particularly happy with interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for pitting the government against the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) around the time he returns from London after a successful heart surgery, official sources said on Friday.

The interior minister had launched a scathing attack on the Pakistan People’s Party leadership, accusing Mr Asif Ali Zardari of corruption and taunting Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan of turning a blind eye to Mr Zardari’s past for personal gains.

The Pakistan People’s Party returned in the same coins and blasted the minister for his statement. The party alleged Mr Khan was working against his own party’s government and wanted to be the Prime Minister.

This came as the Opposition was uniting to give a tough time to the government on Panama leaks when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returns — possibly on Saturday. There was also a controversy over the appointment of new Election Commission members.

Opposition leader Khurshid Shah said he was in contact with other parties, especially the PTI, to finalise the strategy.

“The Opposition parties will decide the future after Eid holidays. We will discuss the Panama leaks and other issues,” he said.

Mr Shah said he had been in contact with PTI’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi to join Opposition’s efforts against the wrong steps of the government. Mr Qureshi said he was in contact with Mr Shah and the parties will have a meeting soon to decide the future course of action.

“The government does not seem sincere in resolving any issue. On Panama leaks, they are just buying time,” he added.

Information minister Pervez Rashid said the Opposition stepped back from parliamentary committee formed to finalise the terms of reference (ToR) for Panama leaks inquiry.

The minister alleged that Opposition parties had adopted escapism from parliamentary committee after contacting the Election Commission of Pakistan.

He said that report has been prepared about the performance of opposition in Panama leaks probe case that would be presented before the National Assembly in next session. He also accused the PPP of corruption. A close aide of PM Sharif said, the premier was not happy over the developments and had asked his men to go slow against the PPP and may target the PTI. “Attacking the PPP could unite the major opposition parties. This is not what the PM wants. He has asked his ministers to change their strategy and counter the PTI rather than giving them (the PTI) a chance to woo the PPP and form an anti-government alliance,” he added. He said the senior PPP leaders will be contacted during the Eid holidays to bury the hatchet and ‘work for democracy.’ PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said the Interior Minister’s desire to become the country’s Prime Minister cannot be fulfilled by only issuing statements. Last week, the PPP announced to carry out processions against power outages while giving the last warning to the federal government. Sindh Senior Minister Nisar Khuhro said the government will face consequences if loadshedding situation remained the same in Sindh. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) leader Senator Ghous Mohammed Khan Niazi said the opposition was needlessly accusing the government of failures. “When we assumed power, we inherited the problems of terrorism and foreign policy. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is the most experienced leader in whole of Asia and it is a well-known fact known by every country. The incumbent government made special efforts to improve relations with all the neighbouring countries,” he said. He said the ties with international powers were improving and the country was progressing. “The opposition is jealous of Nawaz Sharif’s success,” he claimed.