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Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Chairman of the Senate Yousaf Raza Gillani has urged the federal government to honour the agreement it signed with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and reiterated that the PPP has never been part of the federal cabinet and would not be part of it in the future, The Express Tribune reported.
Speaking to reporters in Islamabad, Gillani said that PPP has backed the government. However, it had never become the part of the cabinet and had no plans to do so in the future. He said, "The government needs to implement the written agreement it made with us." Former Pakistan PM stated that PPP had concerns with the federal government and there were ongoing talks to address those issues, The Express Tribune reported. He further said, "As soon as a result is reached, everyone will be informed. Dialogue is the way forward to resolve problems." His remarks come amid continued negotiations between PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with the former calling for implementation of the terms of the agreement, according to The Express Tribune report. Last week, the second round of dialogue between the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ended without any positive outcome, with both parties expected to meet again on December 24 or 25, Dawn reported. The meeting took place in the chambers of the National Assembly speaker and the PPP remained stick to its demand regarding the implementation of a written agreement between the two parties. During the meeting, Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Pakistan's Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq represented the government while PPP was represented by Raja Pervez Ashraf, Naveed Qamar, and Syed Kursheed Shah. After the meeting, the PPP delegation reported the progress of talks with the government to the PPP chairman. The two parties will meet again on December 24 or 25 ahead of the PPP Central Executive Committee's meeting on December 26 in which the outcome of these talks will be tabled for a final nod from PPP's top leadership, according to Dawn report. A senior PPP leader said one of the major issues raised by the PPP during the meeting with PML-N was regarding the water share of Sindh which, the PPP believed, could be reduced due to a plan by the federal government to carve out six canals from Indus River to irrigate Cholistan. According to the PPP leader, all political and nationalist parties in Sindh were raising a hue and cry on the federal government's decision on new canals. The PPP believed that the federal government should have raised the issue of the proposed Cholistan canals to the Council of Common Interests (CCI) to take all stakeholders on board, according to Dawn report. The PPP called on the government to hold a CCI meeting at the earliest, stressing that the meeting of the body had not taken place for the past 180 days. PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari complained that the ruling PML-N did not take his party on board in the decision-making process and he even removed his name from the judicial commission established under the 26th Amendment, Dawn reported, citing PPP source. Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari criticised the government's decision to backtrack on its promises by not ensuring equal representation of PPP and PML-N in the judicial commission. (ANI)
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