LAHORE: Putting his weight behind his elder brother, PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif has advised PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari not to target former premier Nawaz Sharif the way he (Zardari) did during his stay in Lahore.

The Pakistan Peoples Party, according to one of its leaders, has made it clear that it will no longer be friendly with PML-N, however, its cooperation with it being an opposition party in parliament will continue.

“Zardari Sahib’s statement about Mian Nawaz Sharif is unfortunate. Zardari sb knows the conditions in which MNS had to go abroad. We should refrain from such remarks & work for the greater good of the country,” the opposition leader in the National Assembly said in a tweet on Thursday.

Mr Shehbaz’s statement came three days after Mr Zardari took on Nawaz Sharif for ‘fleeing’ the country.

“He (Nawaz) who does not wish to die on the soil of the homeland can do nothing for the country. The PML-N is against the homeland,” Mr Zardari had said while speaking at Bilawal House in Bahria Town on Monday last to celebrate the party’s ‘rebirth’ in the Punjab capital.

He also said Nawaz Sharif got demarcation of constituencies on the basis of biradaris (castes) after the 1977 polls and pledged to reshape these constituencies as per the original blueprint after winning next elections.

Shehbaz Sharif reminded Mr Zardari of Nawaz’s unwavering commitment to the country. “Mian Sahib’s unwavering commitment to Pakistan has always been unquestionable,” he said.

Nawaz Sharif has been in London since November 2019 for his ‘medical treatment’.

A PML-N leader told Dawn that Mr Zardari was not expected to get that much harsh on Mr Nawaz. “After deliberations for a few days, the party leadership finally decided to give some response to Mr Zardari,” he said.

Earlier, Maryam Nawaz and some of her group issued harsh statements against the PPP leadership for its decision not to resign from assemblies.

The PPP thinks that the PML-N leadership has got panicky after seeing its (PPP) comeback performance in NA-133 by-poll. PPP’s Chaudhry Aslam Gill secured over 32,000 votes against PML-N’s Shaista Pervaiz who bagged 46,000.

“The PML-N’s uneasiness after the PPP’s comeback in Lahore seems obvious. Some of its leaders even had started using harsh language and levelling baseless allegations against the PPP after the result (in NA-133) shows that it (PML-N) is feeling the pain of its return. PPP was founded in Lahore and Punjab remained its stronghold. It was our strategy that produced a good result and unnerved the PML-N,” PPP senior leader Chaudhry Manzoor told Dawn.

Mr Manzoor said the PPP was doing its own politics but in Punjab, it would take on the PML-N. “We will no longer be friendly with the PML-N, however, our cooperation with it being an opposition party in the parliament continues,” he said.

Meanwhile, opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz chided Prime Minister Imran Khan for his “irresponsible” statement in which he said that the inflation rate in Pakistan was much less than the world. “Time has come to use all options available to rid of Imran Khan,” he said while talking to reporters here on Thursday.

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2021