Government, PPP Step Up Contacts with Opposition Parties

ISLAMABAD:The federal government and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have separately intensified contacts with opposition parties amid ongoing political developments.

National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has invited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders to his chamber for a meeting.

Ahead of the meeting, PTI leader Asad Qaiser said the party would demand full implementation of the court’s decision regarding the possible transfer of PTI founder Imran Khan to a hospital.

Former PTI secretary-general Asad Umar said he hoped the political engagement would lead to a positive development. However, he emphasized that the immediate issue was Imran Khan’s health and that attention should remain focused on it.

Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, accompanied by a delegation, met opposition alliance leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, Senate opposition leader Raja Nasir Abbas and other opposition leaders a day earlier.

According to PTI Secretary-General Salman Akram Raja, the PPP welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision and requested that contacts with the opposition be restored.

A statement issued by the opposition alliance said Bilawal Bhutto requested the opposition parties to return to parliamentary committees. The opposition leaders responded that a decision on the matter would be taken after consultation with PTI founder Imran Khan.

PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that communication and consultations among parliamentary parties were part of the normal political process.