ISLAMABAD
As the leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) squared off on Tuesday over the controversial appointment of a retired bureaucrat as the new chairman of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa), the ruling coalition began to show signs of strain in just its first month in office.
Just a few days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif first named Zafar Mahmood as the new Irsa chairman and then quickly withdrew his decision in response to strong opposition from the PPPP, the leaders of the PML-N and PPPP, the federal government’s main partners, made counterstatements that exposed fissures in the ruling coalition.
Despite the fact that both parties formed a coalition and formed the government in the centre after receiving divided votes in the general elections on February 8, the tone and content of the statements released by each party raises concerns about the coalition’s stability in addition to indicating rifts between them.
Even though independent candidates supported by the PTI secured the majority of seats in the National Assembly during the general elections, Shehbaz of the PML-N didn’t become prime minister until the PPPP granted him votes in return for many constitutional positions, including the presidency.
Even though the PPPP made the decision not to join the federal cabinet, the division of important constitutional posts between them resulted in the formation of a coalition administration, which has already begun to tremble in its first month of office.
In a statement issued by the PPP and shared on X, formerly Twitter, central spokesman Shazia Marri stated, “The provinces will be consulted on the appointment of the chairman as written in the Irsa law.”
The PPP spokesman stated, “Even in the absence of legislation, the allies should be consulted.” Marri declared, “PPPP members are living in a fool’s paradise if they think we will put a stamp on their illegal activities. The PML-N wants their vote for free.”
The PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah attacked the PPP on a TV talk programme on the Irsa chairman’s appointment, and the PPP spokeswoman responded to his remarks.
Sanaullah responded that it was impossible to foretell the future when asked if the PML-N-PPP alliance will endure for five years or if the PML-N may be marginalised by the PPP in a few years. But the PPP’s initial response to Irsa’s selection as chairman at the coalition’s inception indicated that the partners’ main goal seemed to be projecting an image of righteousness.
The previous PML-N government’s interior minister, Sanaullah, emphasised the unpredictable nature of future events while stating that his party will work to maintain a positive trajectory with its allies.
The PML-N leader responded to PM Shehbaz’s move to revoke the Irsa chairman’s announcement by saying that if party leader Nawaz Sharif had been prime minister, he would have informed the opposing party that a decision had already been made.
According to him, Nawaz would have advised waiting for a while as it wouldn’t be proper to send out a notice in the morning and then retract it in the afternoon.
But Sanaullah said that PM Shehbaz has always shown generosity, and he could name other instances where the current premier handled similar circumstances well when he led the 13-party alliance in his previous term.
There comes a time when one must make a stand, but he [PM Shehbaz] will still deal with these problems, according to Sanaullah.
He continued, saying that if the PPPP had asked the prime minister to reverse his decision without using force, things would have turned out differently.
Sanaullah, however, stated that launching a protest right away, speaking to the media, and raising a stink about the appointment results in backlash from other parties and makes the coalition partners’ political standing worse.
Sanaullah stressed in his interview that PM Shehbaz needed the party’s support in order to get involved in politics.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanded that Pakistan review the National Finance Commission (NFC) formula during talks with the government. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPPP) objected to this demand, questioning why the global lender would push the Centre to encroach on provincial share, and this is not the first time the two sides have publicly disagreed over an issue.
