PPP’s Hassan Murtaza warns alliance with PML-N could collapse if concerns ignored

Senior PPP leader Hassan Murtaza on Sunday said that unless the PML-N alleviates the PPP’s reservations and includes them in policymaking, their coalition “will not survive”.

There have been tensions between the PPP and the ruling PML-N, with Ali Haider Gilani, PPP’s parliamentary leader in the Punjab Assembly, telling Dawn in June that despite a written accord, the PML-N was trying to back out when it came to implementation of the agreement between the two parties.

Under their written agreement, finalised after multiple rounds of meetings, the PML-N government in Punjab was supposed to take the PPP on board for major administrative decisions and transfer postings in two districts — Multan and Rahim Yar Khan — where the PPP has more lawmakers.

In November, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari delivered a scathing critique of his ruling ally, expressing frustration over the “disrespect” felt by his party despite being in the coalition and unmet agreements between the two parties.

The PPP chairman, in an informal conversation with reporters at Bilawal House, also accused the PML-N of reneging on commitments after the 26th Constitutional Amendment’s passage. He also hinted at a possible review of the PPP’s eight-month alliance in the Centre with the PML-N-led government in the PPP’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting.

On December 18, PPP lawmakers staged a walkout in the National Assembly (NA) in protest of the continued “insulting” absence of federal ministers from proceedings. More recently on December 23, the PPP chairman slammed internet slowdowns and restrictions in the country, calling them “another effort to control and censor citizens” amid his party’s tensions with the government.

Answering a question during DawnNews TV programme ‘Doosra Rukh with Nadir Guramani’ related to what would the PPP do if the PML-N did not change its ways, the senior leader said, “It could jeopardise the alliance.”

“If the PML-N continues along this path, then this alliance will not survive. I do not believe the PML-N will change, because they gave a lot of space to the opposition. They think that if they give space to the PPP, they will be left with nothing,” he added.

He added that this final option would be taken after the Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting.

He said that reservations were an inherent part of coalitions between parties with different ideologies and interests.

“Reservations are part of a coalition government because their ideologies and manifestos are different,” Murtaza said. “The PPP’s stance is to be taken onboard any policymaking process. We want a good environment for democracy and politics.”

Asked about which decisions the PPP should have been given a stake in, Murtaza responded that decisions made regarding agriculture “were against PPP policy”.

Murtaza said that internet restrictions also went against PPP policy, adding, “It should not be that people using the internet correctly are punished for those using it for the wrong purposes.

“We have said that there needs to be a code of conduct. This is an industry worth billions of dollars,” he emphasised.

The PPP leader added that because of unilateral decisions, the government was not engaged in “power sharing”.

“They talk about political stakeholders and power-sharing but they will appoint police and local government officials loyal to them,” he added. “Why would we want to be a part of this? This is not how we govern.”

Asked about the relationship between the PPP and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi — who the internet restrictions are attributed to — Murtaza responded: “He was never a part of the party, but he maintains good relations with our leadership.” The PPP leader maintained that if the interior minister receives support from the party, that does not mean he is part of the PPP.

‘They have to fulfil their obligations’

Murtaza, speaking about the PPP’s reservations about Punjab, said that the party is “loyal to the PML-N, not [Punjab Chief Minister] Maryam Nawaz”.

“Whoever Maryam likes is her own matter, we do not want to get involved in that,” he said. “We say that the written agreement between the PML-N and PPP needs to be fulfilled, regardless of what happens in their own house.”

The PPP leader said that there was “a fight going on within the PML-Ns house”, maintaining that the PPP is allied with the federal government.

When asked about the nature of the “fight”, Murtaza explained that the fight centres around favouritism within the PML-N camp, but said that it should not hinder the written agreement between the parties.

“If the PML-N wants to remain in an alliance with us, then they need to be united as a party and fulfil their obligations.”