ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Secretary General Nayyar Hussain Bukhari on Sunday said his party is ready for fresh polls “if Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decides to dissolve the lower house of parliament”, sparking further political uncertainty amid ongoing legal developments.
The statement follows a significant rise in frustration with the federal government, evident in its muted criticism of the Supreme Court for delaying its detailed verdict on reserved seats. According to political observers, this trend may threaten the two-thirds majority of the governing coalition in the National Assembly.
“If there is a danger,” Bukhari said in an interview with a private news channel, adding: “[…] then the prime minister should recommend the dissolution of parliament and go for new elections.”
He questioned the leadership of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for “not sharing details with the PPP if they are facing any danger”.
The politician said his party — the main coalition partner of the PML-N government at the center — is ready to strengthen the ruling party in parliament, but it has to deliver.
Bukhari criticized the embattled Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and said President Asif Ali Zardari had offered many times to mediate and help negotiate political disputes. “But someone should express a willingness to sit down and talk.
The former Senate chairman alleged that PTI founder Imran Khan was an “untrustworthy man who turns politics inside out as a matter of pride”.
Throwing shade at the jailed former prime minister’s recent statements, he went on to say that Imran had shown his readiness to hold talks with the establishment and announced that he was empowering senior politician Mahmood Khan Achakzai to speak, but later backtracked on his assertions.
Bukhari said the Bilawal-led party believed in constitutional supremacy and that any solution should be derived from the constitution.
He also warned that the country will face dire consequences if the system is derailed.
The coalition government’s fears are growing after the reserved seats verdict that resurrected the Imran-founded party in the national and provincial assemblies.
Federal Information Minister Ataullah Tarar expressed concern over the delay in issuing a detailed verdict of the July 12 Supreme Court decision and called for a hearing on the dissenting note of the two judges today.
Referring to the 29-page dissenting note written by Justices Amin-Ud-Din Khan and Naeem Akhtar Afghan, who were members of the full bench, Tarar said the issues raised in the said document should be properly discussed.
Tarar’s remarks refer to the Supreme Court’s ruling last month in which it declared the PTI eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities in the assemblies after overturning the decisions of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Since the Supreme Court’s decision, the ECP has announced 39 out of 80 Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) as PTI members, along with 93 legislators in the Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh Assemblies as “returned candidates” of the former ruling party.
After partial implementation, the commission approached the Supreme Court two weeks ago seeking legal and constitutional directions on the remaining PTI legislators in the national and provincial assemblies.
Meanwhile, the PML-N and its key ally PPP filed objections to the review based on the full court’s 8-5 majority decision.
