LAHORE, March 25: The PPP is divided on the issue of joining a coalition government led by the PML-N in Punjab and most of its provincial legislators have suggested to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to rather sit in the opposition once governor’s rule is lifted.

At a meeting of the Punjab parliamentary party, presided by the prime minister here on Wednesday, the legislators suggested that the PML-N should be allowed to form government with the help of the PML-Q or its defectors unless its leadership agreed to join the PPP government at the centre.

“If our leadership is under pressure to carry on the coalition with the PML-N in the province, we should ask it (PML-N) to first join the federal government,” a senior PPP legislator was quoted to have told the meeting.

“If the PML-N does not join the federal cabinet, we should better sit on opposition benches in Punjab.”

Another legislator said the party did not need to join the coalition government with the PML-N to “advance the cause of democracy”.

“We can do it even by sitting in the opposition. It is the system that needs to be protected and strengthened,” he said, reminding the prime minister that President Asif Ali Zardari had promised to instal PPP’s own government and chief minister in Punjab. “It is time to fulfil that commitment.”

Some legislators called for sitting in the opposition because they could not get along with the “PML-N’s dictator chief minister (Shahbaz Sharif)”.

They said as in the period of Mr Shahbaz, ‘genuine’ complaints of PPP workers were not being redressed today and suggested that governor’s rule be lifted.

A woman MPA said it was better to improve the party’s image by sitting in the opposition because the PML-N was “cleverly playing its cards” both in the province and at the centre.

“The PML-N earlier announced that it would join the federal cabinet if the deposed judges, including (Justice) Chaudhry Iftikhar, were restored. Now they have been restored, but the Sharif brothers are trying to find some other reasons for not joining the PPP government at the centre. The PPP leadership should understand PML-N’s game plan,” she said.

Prime Minister Gilani assured the legislators that President Zardari, who had been authorised to take a decision on the matter, would respect their opinion while finalising a future strategy for Punjab.

He said that governor’s rule could not be allowed to remain in force for more than two months, adding that the government would not support any decision which was against the will of the masses.

“We are against governor’s rule because people are the real source of power not governor’s rule.”

Mr Gilani said he could advise the president to lift governor’s rule, but he wanted the president
himself to take a decision.He said the president had asked him to offer ‘olive branch’ to PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif and to tell him that the government wanted to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the disqualification verdict and implement the Charter of Democracy.

He said he had told Mr Sharif that the government had restored the judiciary and expressed the hope that he would accept the court decision. “All eyes are on Punjab and let’s see how the court decides on the matter (of disqualification of the Sharifs).”
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