LAHORE: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Saturday sought to draw a line between coalition politics and political silence saying its alliance with the PML-N did not prevent it from criticising the federal and Punjab government’s “wrongdoings” or raising issues concerning the people.
“We are allies, but we are neither dumb, blind nor deaf,” PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Hassan Murtaza told a press conference here on Saturday.
Flanked by provincial information secretary Shahzad Saeed Cheema and MPA Shazia Abid, Mr Murtaza strongly condemned the alleged violence against PPP workers in Lahore during political activities related to Azad Kashmir and demanded an inquiry.
Referring to remarks about making PML-N head Nawaz Sharif the prime minister of Azad Kashmir without a constitutional amendment, he said: “Political leaders should not make statements that ignore constitutional realities”. He said that someone who had served as the prime minister of Pakistan thrice but failed to build roads in Kashmir should not make such claims.
He also took exception to attempts to blame former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique for the fall of Dhaka and said the PPP founder had longstanding ties with Kashmir and that the party had historically advocated political and economic rights for Kashmiris.
Turning to Punjab, Mr Murtaza alleged that Punjab was being subjected to excessive spending and questionable projects in the name of beautification. He called for an inquiry into the Rs1bn Suthra Punjab scandal in Faisalabad and demanded investigations into the condition of roads in Lahore and Toba Tek Singh. He said the situation witnessed in Lahore in the past 48 hours was before everyone.
He said Chiniot, his constituency, faced flooding almost every year, with agriculture suffering the greatest losses.
He said the sharp rise in diesel prices was directly affecting farmers. “What kind of regulatory system is this when Ogra does not even have a chairman?” he asked, questioning the government’s decision to raise fuel prices on the basis of storage costs despite the regular arrival of fuel shipments.
Without naming Punjab Information Minister Uzma Bukhari, he criticised her for targeting the PPP leadership, especially Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
The PPP leader claimed that his party had accepted and implemented 33 of the 35 demands raised by the banned Joint Action Committee, while constitutionally-barred demands, he said, could only be addressed through the parliament. He claimed the PPP, after its performance in the Gilgit-Baltistan elections, was preparing to win in Azad Kashmir as well.
Meanwhile, the PPP held its workers’ convention at the Governor House on Saturday after the government did not allow it to hold it at Minar-e-Pakistan. The convention was held to mark the 71th birthday of President Asif Ali Zardari.
Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2026