The internal story of a crucial meeting of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Executive Committee (CEC) has come to light, revealing growing bitterness and distrust at the federal and Punjab levels between the government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). President Asif Ali Zardari told party executive members that everything would be resolved within a month, explaining that he had been asked for a month to fix the issues. 

During the CEC meeting, PPP took a decisive stance against the proposed Local Governments (LG) system in Punjab. Zardari expressed confidence that the situation would improve within the month and urged the party to stay active and prepared for the upcoming elections in Punjab. He also instructed party leaders to refrain from making public statements against the PML-N or the Punjab government.

The committee resolved that the PPP would participate fully in the local government elections in Punjab but banned any PPP leader from issuing statements critical of the Nawaz League or the Punjab administration. In addition, the meeting decided that the government would assist flood victims in Punjab under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP).

The party also demanded that the subsidy rate for wheat be fixed at 4200 Pakistani rupees per mound, maintaining its disagreement with the federal government’s rate of 3500 rupees. Responsibilities related to the formation of a new government in Azad Kashmir were also assigned to party leaders during the meeting.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)