PPP Leader Warns PML-N Against Clashes with Coalition Partners
Bilawal Warns PML-N Against Assuming Victory in AJK, Says Islamabad Government Also at Risk
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Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday warned the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) against assuming it would form the government in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), claiming that the party’s government in Islamabad could also face political trouble.
Addressing a public rally in Bagh district, Bilawal said the PML-N was “mistaken” in believing it had already secured power in AJK.
“In fact, their government in Islamabad is also at risk,” he claimed.
The PPP chairman said the countdown for the PML-N government had already begun, adding that the process had been initiated by people within the ruling party itself.
Bilawal alleged that a section of the PML-N wanted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to confront his coalition partners.
“The real fight is something else,” he said, while referring to what he described as differences between the political centres of Islamabad and Lahore.
Referring to alleged tensions within the Sharif family, Bilawal said the dispute was an internal matter of the family.
The PML-N has emerged as the leading party in AJK after the first two phases of the elections, securing 24 seats compared with the PPP’s 10.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Political Affairs Rana Sanaullah claimed that the PML-N had secured enough seats to form a simple majority government in AJK.
The third and final phase of polling is scheduled to take place on August 10 in Bagh and Haveli districts of Poonch Division.
Addressing the rally, Bilawal urged voters to support the PPP in the remaining contests, saying the party would “hunt the lion” — the PML-N’s electoral symbol — in Poonch on August 10.
“They are thinking that their government will be formed in Kashmir. There are still 11 seats left,” he said, vowing to form a PPP government in AJK.
Reacting to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s remarks about the collapse of the system, Bilawal rejected the assessment, saying the system had not failed but had instead been deliberately weakened.
“The system will not work until the people’s sovereignty is recognised,” he added.
