PPP more comfortable without cabinet portfolios: sources

ISLAMABAD: Despite repeated government offers to the Pakistan People’s Party to join the federal cabinet of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif the PPP feels more happy and comfortable as it is getting everything it wishes from the government.

According to senior PPP leaders even without the cabinet portfolios, development work in PPP constituencies is in progress and at the same time they also have the chairmanship of the NA panels of their choice while providing all-out support to the government in the Parliament.

Sources said the offers are still being made and some of the senior leaders have also suggested to the top leadership to give it a serious thought. Still, the party is feeling more comfortable without being part of the cabinet. According to sources, the PPP had assured the government that it would continue to back the government for political stability which is imperative for economic progress.

The senior leaders said the party was focused on parliamentary positions and secured the chairmanship of 9-10 NA committees. Likewise being the largest party in the Senate, the PPP will get a good share of chairmanship of the Senate committees and will accommodate its allies who backed the PPP candidate for Chairman Senate. Against this backdrop, in a recent meeting with the prime minister, the PPP demanded finalising the issue of the NA, and Senate committees before the budget, sources said. The PPP has also been accommodated in the federal government projects in their respective constituencies, a senior PPP leader said. These development schemes are being coordinated in parts of Punjab by Nadeem Afzal Chan and Ali Haider Gilani.

Despite this, there was immense pressure from some of the party parliamentarians to join the federal and the Punjab cabinets. They believe it would ensure political and institutional stability.

During the negotiations with the PMLN, the PPP has demanded that in case it joins the cabinets, it would like to be done under a structured mechanism where the powers of the party ministers are well defined. Such a decision would be finalised by the PPP Central Executive Committee, the forum to decide the party policies. Earlier, the CEC had decided to support the coalition government without becoming a part of the federal cabinet.

“And now if the party takes any decision, it should go to the CEC of party for future line of action,” a senior leader of the PPP said.