LAHORE, March 6: The PPP is considering establishing a shadow cabinet in Punjab for exposing “weaknesses” and “wrong” policies of the provincial government the party has been a part of until Feb 27. “The party had set up a shadow cabinet during the PML-Q government and is again considering the role after its separation from the PML-N-led ruling coalition in Punjab,” President Asif Ali Zardari’s coordinator for the province Naveed Chaudhry says.

The idea would be discussed in the Punjab parliamentary party meeting President Zardari had convened for Tuesday in Islamabad, he said.

Fears of “destabilisation” of democratic system are barring the PPP from making attempts to retake Punjab. The last time the party independently ruled the province was in 1977, although it came into power as a coalition partner when Manzoor Wattoo had revolted against then PML-N chief minister, late Ghulam Haider Wyne, in 1992.

“Moving a no-trust motion is no solution to the problems the country is facing. The situation demands that we go together instead of troubling each other. Otherwise, the democracy achieved after a lot of sacrifices could suffer,” Chaudhry said.

He, however, hastened to add the PPP would not show any leniency to the PML-N government as the Islamabad meeting would formulate a strategy to do “politics of issues” in Punjab.

He said the party would not indulge in criticism for the sake of criticism as it would offer solutions, along with facts and figures, to various issues while exposing the wrong policies of the government.

Opinion

A state of chaos

A state of chaos

The establishment’s increasingly intrusive role has further diminished the credibility of the political dispensation.

Editorial

Bulldozed bill
Updated 22 May, 2024

Bulldozed bill

Where once the party was championing the people and their voices, it is now devising new means to silence them.
Out of the abyss
22 May, 2024

Out of the abyss

ENFORCED disappearances remain a persistent blight on fundamental human rights in the country. Recent exchanges...
Holding Israel accountable
22 May, 2024

Holding Israel accountable

ALTHOUGH the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor wants arrest warrants to be issued for Israel’s prime...
Iranian tragedy
Updated 21 May, 2024

Iranian tragedy

Due to Iran’s regional and geopolitical influence, the world will be watching the power transition carefully.
Circular debt woes
21 May, 2024

Circular debt woes

THE alleged corruption and ineptitude of the country’s power bureaucracy is proving very costly. New official data...
Reproductive health
21 May, 2024

Reproductive health

IT is naïve to imagine that reproductive healthcare counts in Pakistan, where women from low-income groups and ...