PPP takes exception to Maryam’s remarks, walks out of NA session
‘Why make it Sindh vs Punjab?’
ISLAMABAD: The feud between the PPP and the PML-N took another turn on Tuesday as the former staged a walkout of the National Assembly over remarks made by the latter’s leader and Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz a day earlier.
The war of words, which began over flood compensation through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), had expanded to water rights on the Indus River a day earlier as the Punjab’s chief minister told the PPP leadership to keep its advice to itself.
At an event inaugurating an electric bus service in Faisalabad on Monday, Maryam dismissed Sindh-based objections to a contentious canal project on the Indus River, insisting Punjab was entitled to develop waterways for its people.
On Tuesday, the matter came up in the lower house of Parliament, with PPP’s Naveed Qamar taking the floor.
“Right now, our country is going through a severe flood situation. As we speak, there is a medium-level flood ongoing in my constituency. The onsluaght that came from Punjab has more or less subsided but many rural areas are still submerged,” he said, adding that standing crops were also submerged.
He said that the people were looking toward the country’s leadership during this time. He highlighted that a recent report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) stated that the floods would also affect upcoming Rabi cultivation.
“Unfortunately, people have not seen rescue efforts following the floods but have seen a lot of politics,” he lamented.
“When it comes to it, we can also make fiery speeches. We can also make something an inter-provincial issue but have mercy on the people of whose responsibility rests on ours shoulders,” Qamar said.
“We cannot absolve ourselves by saying ’it was because of nature’ and leave people to fend for themselves,” he said.
“In the past few days, there have been statements — and I accept some were from our side — but the escalation that followed and the level to which things went is in no way appropriate,” he said.
“We are your allies, we can give you suggestions. The government is yours, you have to make decisions […] but if we give you advice based on our experiences from the past then why do you turn it into criticism? Why make it a Sindh versus Punjab issue?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said he was apologetic if the PPP was distressed over the comments made by Maryam and called for a dialogue between the two sides.
PPP leader Sherry Rehman, in a video posted on the PPP’s X account, said that this matter should be taken up in both Houses of Parliament.
“Whether it is the floods, the canals issue or regarding water reservoirs, we have never adopted an attitude towards Punjab where anyone could point fingers,” she said.
“We have always spoken within the bounds of decency and acted with responsibility. So it is better that both the provinces share their issues with each other,” she said.
She questioned how the PPP could be part of such an alliance under the current circumstances and said that the war of words was not the way forward. Staff Report
