PPP-PML-N rift widens over Judges issue

Lahore, Aug 25: In clear signs of rift widening between the PPP and PML-N after former president Pervez Musharraf's removal from Pakistan's political scene, the bigger coalition partner the PPP has said that it will move out of the PML-N-led Punjab government if the coalition collapses over the judges' issue.

Stating this here on Sunday, Aug 24 evening, PPP Punjab Senior Minister Raja Riaz said that the PPP would restore the judges "according to its own strategy". Meanwhile, members of the PML-Q's forward bloc, who has expressed intention to merge with the PML-N in near future, have said that the PML-N will continue to rule the Punjab province even if the PPP pulled out of the provincial government.

Jalaluddin Dhaku, a PML-N forward bloc member from district Sahiwal, reportedly said on Sunday that the PML-N's government in Punjab was 'more than secure' even if the alliance between the two major coalition parties ended.

The forward bloc supported the PML-N government out of conviction, and "the group will soon become a part of the PML-N", the Daily Times quoted Dhaku as saying.

Dhaku said the coalition between the PPP and PML-N should continue. "The coalition is very good for the country's future ... the Pakistanis have pinned great hopes on the new democratic dispensation," he said, adding that it would be unfortunate if the alliance collapsed.

ANI