Zardari tasks Naqvi with defusing tensions with PMLN

KARACHI: President Asif Ali Zardari directed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to mediate between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) to ease rising tensions within the coalition, sources revealed.

During a meeting in Karachi, Zardari instructed Naqvi to meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Wednesday to convey his concerns and urge the premier to defuse the situation.

Tensions surged after PPP leader and former National Assembly speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf led a walkout from an assembly session, announcing a boycott until Punjab ministers explained controversial remarks about Sindh.

The discord prompted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Asad Qaiser to offer support for a potential no-confidence motion against the federal government, stating, “If they are serious, we will fully back it to topple the government.”

The war of words between PPP and PMLN leaders, particularly between Punjab and Sindh ministers, has intensified recently. Senior PPP figures have criticised Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz over her remarks on flood rehabilitation, the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and the controversial Punjab canals project.