Overview
- Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif phoned PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to discuss the political situation, flood relief and foreign policy, prompting a pause in public hostilities.
- A PML-N delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar met President Asif Ali Zardari in Nawabshah, with both sides agreeing to refrain from confrontational statements as Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi mediated.
- PPP has set an Oct. 18 Central Executive Committee meeting to take “important decisions,” and party figures in Punjab say they intend to seek permission to move to opposition benches in the provincial assembly.
- The coalition rupture was triggered by a clash over deploying the Benazir Income Support Programme for flood assistance, a method PPP backs and Punjab officials call politicisation.
- In recent days PPP lawmakers staged walkouts from the Senate and National Assembly and demanded an apology from Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, with party leaders warning the government’s Senate majority could be imperiled without PPP support.