LAHORE:
The Popular Party of Pakistan (PPP) remains without convincing that its meeting with the Pakistan-Nawaz Muslim League (PML-N) in Governor House on Saturday (today) will produce any significant result, a high-level leader revealed.
It is unlikely that the meeting, held to address PPP’s concerns about the political space in Punjab, will be unlikely to produce significant results, said the privileged information.
“It is in the PML-n genes to treat its benefactors with the greatest contempt,” he lamented, expressing skepticism deeply rooted within the PPP ranks with respect to any tangible progress.
He also said that the real battlefield for PPP at this juncture is not Punjab, but the problem of the contentious channel, on which President Asif Ali Zardari has already raised serious concerns in a joint parliamentary session.
He said the PPP was very aware that it was against the powerful forces, but added that the party saw this as a battle for its political survival and was prepared to reach the end.
The PPP delegation for the meeting will be led by former Prime Minister and Central President of Punjab, Raja Pervez Ashraf, and was expected to include Ali Haider Gillani, Nadeem Afzal Chan and the governor of Punjab Sardar Sardar Salem Haider, said the leader.
Before the meeting, PPP will celebrate an internal discussion at 1:30 pm, followed by an informal group to finish its conversation points before committing to PML-N at 4:00 pm
According to the privileged information of PPP, the party will submit its final demand in the hope of ensuring some form of concession to use as a face savings measure.
“Even if PML-N eventually renounces your commitments in Punjab, it will not cost PPP anything. In fact, you will only strengthen our argument that we act with altruistic intentions,” he said.
A PPP spokesman confirmed the meeting, but declared that the party had not been informed about the composition of the PML-N delegation. Meanwhile, PML-N could not be contacted to comment.
It is pertinent to take into account that the next meeting follows an earlier attempt to placate PPP’s concerns, which began with a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in Islamabad.
