Nawaz, Shahbaz meet in Parliament House; decide PML-N will attend APC

Published October 30, 2018
Nawaz Sharif hugs his brother Shahbaz Sharif as they meet at the Parliament House. — Photo by author
Nawaz Sharif hugs his brother Shahbaz Sharif as they meet at the Parliament House. — Photo by author

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday arrived at the Parliament House to meet Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif in the latter's chambers, DawnNewsTV reported.

Nawaz also chaired a meeting of the party's leadership, attended by Raja Zafarul Haq, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Rana Sanaullah, Hamza Shahbaz, Rana Tanveer, Khawaja Asif and Ayaz Sadiq.

During the meeting, it was decided that a five-member delegation from the party, headed by Haq, will attend the All Parties Conference (APC) that was proposed by the opposition. The delegation will also include Asif, Rafique, Sadiq and Ahsan Iqbal. Nawaz will not attend the APC.

The party leadership also agreed that it would walk alongside the rest of the opposition parties in matters of national importance.

According to DawnNewsTV, the party leaders also discussed the country's political situation and corruption references filed against PML-N leaders by NAB.

This is the ex-PM’s first visit to the Parliament House during the past one year.

Shahbaz, the PML-N president and former chief minister of Punjab, has been in the custody of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in connection with Ashiyana housing scam since Oct 5. He was allowed to attend the National Assembly session, which commenced on Monday, after the issuance of his production order by Speaker Asad Qaiser.

Shahbaz and Nawaz meet at Parliament House on Tuesday. ─ Photo provided by author
Shahbaz and Nawaz meet at Parliament House on Tuesday. ─ Photo provided by author

Earlier, PPP leader Khursheed Shah also stopped by Shahbaz's chamber to meet Nawaz.

After the meeting, Nawaz had lunch — arranged by Shahbaz — with the party leadership at the Parliament House's banquet hall.

In a brief interaction with media representatives, Shahbaz confirmed that his party will participate in the APC, but said that his sibling, Nawaz will not be a part of it.

The former Punjab CM remained coy when pressed to disclose what he had discussed with PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari during their meeting.

Meanwhile, JUI-F MNA Maulana Asad Mehmood said that the PML-N leadership had not yet informed the opposition about their decision to attend the APC.

"Nawaz Sharif and PPP will inform Maulana Fazlur Rehman [of their decision]. The date and agenda [of the APC] will be decided after that," he told reporters.

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