President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Monday discussed rising tensions between the Punjab and Sindh governments as the coalition allies continued to trade barbs over multiple issues.
A post on X from the presidency said that Zardari and Naqvi held a telephonic conversation today related to the ongoing row between the PPP and PML-N.
“President Asif Ali Zardari spoke to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi over the phone to discuss the recent tensions between the Sindh and Punjab governments. The president has called the interior minister to Karachi for an urgent meeting in this regard,” the post said.
The coalition partners in the Centre have been engaged in a war of words for the past many days over issues from flood compensation to water rights in the context of the Cholistan canals project. The PPP, which is in power in Sindh, has been particularly incensed by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s remarks, whose party is also leading the federal government.
The war of words between the two sides initially kicked off over flood compensation but expanded to water rights on the Indus River as CM Maryam told the PPP leadership to keep its advice to itself.
In response, the PPP lawmakers decided to stay away from parliamentary proceedings last week to protest the diatribe. PPP and PML-N bigwigs subsequently met in Islamabad to find a way out of the row, with the former asking CM Maryam to “rethink her tone” while speaking about water rights of the provinces.
However, she declared on Friday that she would never apologise to the PPP over her outburst, while the latter said she did not represent the people of Punjab as her government was a byproduct of Form 47.
The now-shelved six-canal project had turned out to be a cause of contention between Punjab and Sindh. Approval for the project was denied at the CCI after protests following the initiative’s launch by CM Maryam and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his elder brother and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday and discussed with him the ‘growing tensions’ between the PPP and PML-N, requesting him[1] to play his part in cooling off the tempers.
Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon alleged a day ago that the Punjab government was taking his party’s cover to “target” the federal government.
More to follow.
References
- ^ requesting him (www.dawn.com)