PPP Leader Says Support to Govt Is Not a ‘Blank Cheque’ for PML-N

LAHORE: Asif Iqbal – Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) central leader Qamar Zaman Kaira on Wednesday said that the country had long remained in the grip of crises and continued to face several serious challenges.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Mr Kaira said the PPP had extended support to the government without being part of it, assisting in legislation and other critical matters. However, he added, “our cooperation was never meant to give the PML-N a blank cheque.”

He regretted that tensions had recently surfaced between the Punjab government and the PPP, stressing that political differences must be addressed with “reason and patience” rather than repeating the harsh rhetoric of the past.

Referring to relief efforts, Mr Kaira said the PPP had fully supported the government in the rehabilitation of flood victims, but objections raised by his party on the aid distribution mechanism were wrongly portrayed as an attack on Punjab. He said the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) was a transparent and effective system for helping victims, yet attempts were being made to politicise it.

Highlighting PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s visit to Kasur, he said Bilawal had met flood victims and urged the federal government to declare an agricultural emergency and provide immediate relief. He added that the Sindh government had already built houses for hundreds of thousands of displaced people and established world-class healthcare institutions, such as NICVD, that were serving patients from across the country.

“This country does not belong to one party or one province; it belongs to all of us,” Mr Kaira said, warning against what he termed “narrow nationalism.” He stressed that water distribution and other contentious matters must be settled through the Council of Common Interests.

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On the Palestinian issue, he said over 60,000 Palestinians had been martyred due to Israeli atrocities. While the government of Pakistan had held consultations with Muslim countries, he insisted that “the real stakeholders are the Palestinian people, and any decision must be taken with their confidence.”

The press conference was attended by senior PPP leaders including Samina Khalid Ghurki, Usman Malik, Faisal Mir, Rana Jawad and a large number of party workers.