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Tag: PPP

  • President House: No Provinces Talk in Zardari-Naqvi Meeting

    President House: No Provinces Talk in Zardari-Naqvi Meeting

    The President House on Friday rejected media reports that President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi discussed the creation of new provinces during their meeting in Nawabshah a day earlier, saying the talks focused on national security and the regional situation.

    In a statement, the President House said the reports suggesting that provincial matters were discussed during the meeting were incorrect. “Matters concerning national security and the regional situation were discussed during the meeting. However, no discussion took place on matters related to provinces,” the statement said.

    The clarification came after several media reports claimed that the president and the interior minister had discussed the possibility of creating new provinces during their meeting at Zardari House in Nawabshah on Thursday night. No official handout had been issued following the meeting, which fuelled speculation about what was discussed.

    Naqvi had travelled to Nawabshah on a special aircraft for the meeting, which reportedly lasted nearly an hour. He flew in hours after publicly calling for a referendum on the creation of new provinces, saying surveys and public discussion appeared to indicate support for the idea and that the people should formally settle the question.

    The debate over creating new provinces as part of a broader restructuring of the system gained momentum on July 31, when Naqvi called for additional administrative units or provinces to overhaul what he described as the country’s outdated governance system. The proposal has since drawn sharply divided reactions from political parties.

    The Pakistan Peoples Party, which the president belongs to, has opposed any division of Sindh, while other parties have either backed a referendum or called for the matter to be decided through parliament. A referendum alone cannot create a province under the Constitution, and any change would require a constitutional amendment passed by parliament.

    The President House statement gave no further details of the discussion on national security and the regional situation, and it did not mention the referendum proposal. The meeting had taken place against the backdrop of the interior minister’s renewed push for a public vote on new administrative units, which he has argued would improve governance and bring administration closer to the people.

    Officials familiar with the meeting had earlier told reporters that the two leaders discussed matters of mutual interest, but the absence of an official statement after the talks led to conflicting accounts in the media about whether the provinces issue came up. Friday’s clarification put the presidency’s position on record, stating plainly that no discussion relating to provinces took place.

  • Faryal Talpur: PPP Determined to Regain Position in Punjab

    Faryal Talpur: PPP Determined to Regain Position in Punjab

    LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Women’s Wing President Faryal Talpur has said her party is determined to regain its position in Punjab, as she began a four-day visit to Lahore to review the party’s organisation in the province.

    Talpur was received at Allama Iqbal International Airport by former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, PPP Central Punjab General Secretary Hassan Murtaza and senior party leaders including Qamar Zaman Kaira, Samina Khalid Ghurki, Rana Farooq Saeed and Shahzad Saeed Cheema. Provincial Minister Anwar Sial, Sadia Javed and other party leaders were also present. From the airport, she went directly to Bilawal House, where she is scheduled to hold a series of meetings with party leaders and office-bearers during her stay.

    Speaking on Thursday, Talpur said she would visit Punjab regularly to oversee party affairs, strengthen the organisation and stay in direct contact with workers. She dismissed suggestions that the party has grown politically weak in the province, and said the PPP would work to restore its standing among voters in Punjab.

    Organisation and Women’s Wing in focus

    Talpur formally began her political engagements on Thursday at the Peoples Secretariat in Model Town, where organisational discussions are a major part of her programme. According to party sources, the main aim of the visit is to activate the PPP in Punjab, with particular attention to the Women’s Wing.

    During the visit, she is expected to chair meetings on the party’s organisational structure, the prevailing political situation and the challenges ahead. Meetings are planned with female office-bearers to discuss the Women’s Wing’s organisational performance, membership and future political activities, and with members of the Punjab Executive and representatives of divisional and district organisations and various wings.

    She is also expected to meet people who have recently joined the PPP, and to attend a luncheon hosted by former Punjab governor Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood at his residence in honour of the party’s members of the Punjab Assembly.

    The PPP has historically maintained an important political presence in Punjab, although its electoral strength and organisational reach have faced challenges in the province in recent years. Party leaders say rebuilding local networks and improving coordination among workers at the provincial, divisional and district levels are now significant priorities, and the outcome of Talpur’s meetings may help shape the party’s organisational priorities and political strategy in Punjab in the coming months.

    Her engagements in Lahore are expected to continue throughout the four-day programme, with meetings involving provincial leaders and representatives from different levels of the party.

  • Bilawal Urges Dialogue to Ease Economic Crisis

    Bilawal Urges Dialogue to Ease Economic Crisis

    Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has called for political dialogue to address the economic crisis and the hardships faced by the public, saying all political parties must sit together to find a way forward.

    Bilawal was speaking at the inauguration of the 600-bed Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation in Larkana. Addressing the gathering, he said dialogue was necessary to deal with the economic difficulties facing the country and the problems of ordinary people.

    He said all parties must sit together and that dialogue was in the interest of the country, of democratic institutions and of the public. His message was that the economic crisis cannot be resolved by one party alone, and that a shared approach is needed at a time when households are under pressure.

    The PPP chairman criticised the previous federal government for failing to provide relief to farmers and the poor. He said the federal government had neglected health and education, two areas he described as central to the welfare of the people.

    He praised the Sindh government’s services in health and education, pointing to the new 600-bed institute in Larkana as an example of the province’s investment in public services. The institute adds a major specialist facility to the city, offering urology and transplantation services to patients from across the region.

    The call for dialogue comes at a time of political division, with parties often speaking past each other rather than engaging directly. Bilawal’s argument is that the economic crisis, rising costs and public hardship affect supporters of every party, and that the response should therefore be worked out jointly.

    Whether other parties take up the call remains to be seen. Dialogue of the kind Bilawal described would require rival parties to set aside their differences and agree on common economic measures, something that has proved difficult in the past.

    For the people of Larkana, the day’s news was also the opening of a large new hospital, a concrete addition to the city’s health services. Bilawal linked the two themes in his address, presenting investment in health and education as part of the same responsibility as easing the economic burden on the public.

    His remarks underline the PPP’s position that political engagement, rather than confrontation, is the way to deal with the country’s economic problems. The coming days will show whether the call for all parties to sit together finds any takers.

  • NAB summons Asad Mahmood on 10 November over Pakistan Post hiring

    NAB summons Asad Mahmood on 10 November over Pakistan Post hiring

    The National Accountability Bureau has summoned former federal minister and Pakistan Peoples Party leader Asad Mahmood to appear on 10 November, in an inquiry into alleged illegal appointments in Pakistan Post.

    According to the report, the inquiry covers alleged irregularities in appointments made between 2022 and 2025, during Mahmood’s tenure as Communications Minister. The report says he had also appeared before NAB previously in connection with the same appointments issue.

    No finding or charge is stated in the report. A summons in an inquiry is a step in an investigation, not a verdict, and this report does not present the allegations as proven facts. The distinction matters, because accountability proceedings in Pakistan often run for a long time before any conclusion is reached.

    Pakistan Post is one of the country’s oldest public institutions, with a network reaching across the country. Appointments within such a large organisation carry particular significance, because the workforce is spread across provinces and districts and because hiring decisions affect public services in many communities.

    The period covered by the inquiry, 2022 to 2025, spans Mahmood’s time as Communications Minister, the portfolio under which Pakistan Post falls. The inquiry therefore focuses on decisions taken during his tenure, rather than on appointments made before or after it.

    Mahmood’s previous appearance before NAB in connection with the same issue suggests that the inquiry has been under way for some time. His appearance on 10 November will be the next step in that process, and it will be watched for any indication of how the inquiry proceeds from here.

    For the PPP, the summons comes at a politically sensitive time, with the party in government at the centre and its leaders active in national politics. Party figures facing accountability inquiries often argue that such proceedings are politically motivated, while accountability bodies maintain that they act on evidence. This report does not take a position on either claim, and records only what has been reported about the summons itself.

    What happens after 10 November will depend on the course of the inquiry. Until NAB issues further information, the public record consists of the summons, the period under inquiry, and the fact of the previous appearance, and no more should be read into it than that.

  • Shehbaz, Bilawal meet on KP situation and Assembly agenda

    Shehbaz, Bilawal meet on KP situation and Assembly agenda

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari at the PM House in Islamabad on Wednesday, for talks centred on the overall political situation in the country.

    According to reports of the meeting, the two leaders discussed the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular, alongside legislation and the agenda of the ongoing session of the National Assembly. The meeting brought together the head of the federal government and the chairman of a key coalition partner at a time when the province and the parliamentary calendar are both in focus.

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is reported to have expressed concern over the situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the discussion. The reports of the meeting do not name any specific bill under discussion, nor do they quote either leader directly, and this report does not add any such detail.

    Meetings of this kind between the prime minister and coalition partners are a routine part of managing a government that depends on parliamentary support. The National Assembly session provides the setting for that coordination, because legislation can only move forward when the parties in government agree on the order of business and on the measures to be taken up.

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has remained a prominent subject in national political discussion, and the fact that it featured prominently in the meeting underlines its place on the federal agenda. The discussion covered the broader political picture as well, rather than a single provincial issue alone.

    The meeting took place at the prime minister’s official residence and office in Islamabad, the usual venue for formal consultations between the prime minister and senior political leaders. No joint statement or announcement of specific decisions arising from the meeting was reported.

    For the government, keeping coalition partners aligned matters most when parliament is in session, since the success of its legislative programme depends on support in the House. Wednesday’s meeting appears to have been part of that continuing effort to keep the coalition’s parliamentary work on track.

    What happens next will become clearer as the National Assembly session proceeds and as the items on its agenda come up for discussion. Until specific measures are formally moved in the House, the significance of the meeting lies in the consultation itself, and in the signal that the leadership of the government and the PPP remain in direct contact over the political situation and the work of parliament.