KARACHI: As key leaders of his party expre­ssed a “lack of confidence” in the federal government, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari urged them to “intensify engagements” with the PML-N government in the Centre.

The directive issued on Friday signalled that the ‘cosmetic measures’ by the ruling party had so far failed to resolve lingering issues between the coalition partners.

The party chairman’s orders came after a host of the PPP’s top government functionaries voiced serious reservations with PM Shehbaz Sharif’s government at a huddle.

The meeting, presided over by the PPP chairman, was attended by Punjab Governor Sardar Saleem Haider, Khyber Pakhtun­khwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti and senior PPP leader Syed Naveed Qamar.

A brief statement issued from Bilawal House after the meeting said that a detailed discussion was held on the overall political situation in the country. The participants, it said, briefed the PPP chairman on the progress made in negotiations with the government so far and informed him about upco­ming legislation planned by the government.

“The participants expre­ssed a lack of confidence in the federal government regarding the progress on commitments made to various provinces,” the statement said.

However, it noted that the party chairman had “instru­cted the attendees to intensify their engagements with the government so that positive outcomes from these interactions could be presented during the PPP Central Executive Committee meeting.”

The PPP’s latest stance comes just days after a second round of talks between the PML-N and PPP ended without significant progress, with both sides scheduled to meet again later this month.

As the PPP seeks “positive outcomes” ahead of its upcoming Central Executive Commi­ttee meeting, it seems the list of outstanding issues it aims to resolve continues to grow, both in quantum and in significance.

Karachi Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab, who is also the spokesman for the PPP chairman, told Dawn that while “our people in Punjab” continue to voice concerns over unaddressed issues, key decisions in Sindh and Balochistan — meant to be taken consensually by both the PML-N and PPP — remain unresolved.

“For example, it was agreed that any resource allocation in the PSDP would be made jointly by the PML-N and PPP, but this commitment was never honored,” he said. “To resolve such issues the PPP chairman set up a committee to engage with the federal government but things have yet to move forward. Even our projects don’t get immediate approvals at the Ecnec-level. In Punjab, our people complain that their issues aren’t being addressed. The Punjab governor has raised the similar issues.”

He also referred to the Cen­tre-owned Sindh Infra­structure Development Com­pany Ltd (SIDCL), which the Sindh government wants dissolved, arguing that the development project could be executed better by local governments through their own institutions.

“They agreed to dissolve the SIDCL, but now we’re hearing that they [federal government] are setting up a new institution [called the] Pakistan Infra­str­ucture Development Com­p­any Ltd,” said Barrister Wahab.

“We’re unable to understand how, on one hand you’re abolishing the Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) due to poor performance and laying off hundreds of its employees, while on the other hand you’re building a new organisation with the same mandate and under the same model,” he said.

“Things don’t work like this. If you need to keep checks on the utilisation of funds, we don’t have any objections. But let the local and provincial governments do their jobs,” the PPP leader concluded.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2024