🇵🇰 Flurry of activity in Lahore as PML-N holds meetings with PPP, MQM-P to discuss political cooperation (1 Viewer)

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Flurry of activity in Lahore as PML-N holds meetings with PPP, MQM-P to discuss political cooperation​

Dawn.com | Adnan Sheikh | Nadir Guramani
February 11, 2024

PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif (right) meets with PPP leaders Asif Ali Zardari (middle) and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at Bilawal House in Lahore on Sunday. — DawnNewsTV

MQM-P Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui (L) meets PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on Sunday. — DawnNewsTV

Amid political parties’ ongoing efforts to form the next government, there was a flurry of activity in Lahore on Sunday as the PML-N met with the PPP and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P).

A day after the Feb 8 general elections, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif had hinted at the formation of a national unity government, along the lines of the Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance, before tasking his brother — former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif — with reaching out to other parties to begin consultations on government-formation.

On Friday night, PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif had met with PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari and his son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, at the residence of caretaker Punjab Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, sources had told Dawn.

“The meeting was a kind of beginning of something big,” said a PPP source, indicating that they had discussed the results of the polls and the post-election situation. “It was a brief discussion but apparently it ended on a positive note.”

The meeting had come after a heated campaign trail that saw Bilawal taking frequent digs at Nawaz.

Today, the two parties held a meeting at Bilawal House in Lahore, which was attended by Shehbaz, Bilawal and Zardari. PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Ayaz Sadiq, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanveer, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Malik Ahmad Khan were also present.

A joint statement issued after the meeting said the two parties had agreed “in principle” on political cooperation.

“In the meeting, the overall situation of the country and political cooperation in the future were discussed in detail,” the statement said. It said the two parties had agreed on cooperating in order to bring political stability.

Party leaders also discussed the current prevailing situation in the country and various proposals in this regard. According to the statement, the PPP said it would place the PML-N’s proposals before its Central Executive Committee tomorrow (Monday).

The leaders present said that a majority had given the two parties the mandate and they would not be left disappointed.