LAHORE: Differences continued to mar the working relationship between the PPP and PML-N as the coalition partners’ coordination committees met here on Saturday to resolve outstanding issues and smoothen rough patches.

The meeting, held after a long hiatus and months of strained relations during the acrimonious election campaigns in Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, was never expected to be smooth sailing. And it was not, according to insiders.

The PPP protested that, as a coalition partner, it was paying a heavy political price for the PML-N government’s failure on multiple fronts, including inflation, rising petroleum prices, farming crisis, loadshedding and delays in local government elections.

The PML-N, on the other hand, maintained that instead of acting as a coalition partner and sharing responsibility, the PPP was behaving more like an opposition party and exploiting public issues for political gains, despite knowing that the government had little control over factors such as petroleum prices and inflation.

“There were moments of heated debate, but tempers soon cooled as both sides knew that they had no option but to work together as political guarantors of the system,” one of the participants claimed.

The PML-N had also invited the inspector general of police (IGP) to address the PPP’s concerns relating to police matters and assured the party of its share in development schemes. The PPP, however, reminded that the previous decisions taken on both accounts had not been implemented but forgotten for all practical purposes.

However, the bad blood and trust deficit built up over months of strained relations between the two coalition partners may take several more meetings and confidence-building measures to overcome, the insider said and added that “both sides agreed to implement decisions taken previously, meet more regularly and work together to improve governance”.

Later addressing a press conference, Rana Sanaullah had claimed that issues between both coalition partners had been largely resolve and emphasized the need for coordination committees to meet more frequently.

Senior leaders from both sides attended the meeting. The PPP delegation included former Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Governor Punjab Sardar Saleem Haider Khan, Hassan Murtaza, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Ali Qasim Gilani.

Representing the PML-N on its coordination committee were Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Saad Rafique.

The two sides agreed to maintain the consultation process and continue working together to resolve differences and address coalition-related matters through mutual understanding.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2026