Hassan Murtaza speaks out after PPP-PML-N coordination committee meeting

A meeting of the coordination committee of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and government’s ally Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was held at the Governor’s House in Lahore on Sunday.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, PPP leader Syed Hassan Murtaza said the two sides agreed at the meeting that they would continue to work together and resolve all issues, including those related to agriculture, through talks. He said that sugarcane growers have not been paid their dues. He said the PPP has asked the government to hold local government elections.

He said the PPP has reservations about the local government bill, which lacks the basic democratic spirit. He said the PPP also has reservations about governance, especially political victimization of people. He said the PPP has reservations about some universities too. He said the two sides also discussed the possibility of another meeting next week and it is a positive development.

Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, the Punjab Assembly speaker who was accompanying Murtaza at the media talk, said the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) was the right forum to resolve water-related issues. He said there is an agreed formula of water distribution and Punjab and Sindh will use the water of their own share. He said that provincial autonomy must be requested. He said the IRSA document has all the details about the water distribution and construction of dams. He said that Sindh’s concerns about water distribution should be addressed.