Stop friendly fire and move no-confidence motion, PTI tells PPP amid rifts with PML-N

• PTI will help PPP topple PML-N-led federal govt, says Qaiser.
• Rift between PPP and PML-N hurting national unity: Pervaiz Ashraf.
• President Zardari calls Mohsin Naqvi to Karachi for urgent meeting.
  

ISLAMABAD: Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser on Monday urged the Pakistan Peoples Party to stop "friendly fire" and bring a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, as tensions grow between the PPP and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Addressing the lower house of the parliament after PPP lawmakers staged a walkout, Asad Qaiser assured the Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari-led party of PTI’s support for a no-confidence motion against the Shehbaz Sharif-led government.

In recent days, the PPP and PML-N — the key ruling parties at the Centre — are engaged in a fierce war of words over flood relief, water resources, and the performance of their respective provincial governments 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.

Earlier in the day, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bukhari doubled down on her criticism of the PPP, saying that the Punjab government “will continue to fight” for the province.

Taking a dig at the PPP-led Sindh government, Bukhari said: “They [PPP] are our allies and we respect them. But you [PPP] have nothing to talk about Sindh."

Firing a fresh salvo at the PPP-led provincial government, she asked the Bhutto-led party to “name 17 projects in their 17-year tenure” in Sindh.