Dawn – Pakistan | 2025-10-08 11:40
According to a report by Dawn… What started off as a difference in opinion over how to aid flood affectees has now spiralled into a full-blown feud between the PML-N and the PPP, the two main partners in the ruling coalition.
The spat, termed a ghar ka mamla by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Sept 30, has devolved into a public spectacle threatening the alliance between the two parties.
The bad blood has escalated to the point that leaders from both sides hold daily press conferences to take potshots at the other side. And now, President Asif Ali Zardari appears to be making overtures to smooth over the situation.
But how did the whole thing begin? Here’s what we know.
How to help flood victims?
It appears that differences developed between the PML-N and the PPP last month as the two bickered on how to help flood victims. Several PPP leaders, including Sherry Rehman, called for the utilisation of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to aid flood victims in Punjab, while the provincial government insisted it would use its own resources to do so.
BISP is a national safety net programme in Pakistan that provides cash assistance to poor and vulnerable families, particularly targeting women.
During this time, PML-N leader Rana Sanaullah also called for a complete overhaul of the BISP. He also stated that the BISP could not be continued in its current form — it either needed to be wrapped up or be completely revamped.
In response to Sanaullah’s comments, PPP leader Humayun Khan criticised the PML-N’s approach, stressing that “this is not the time for political point-scoring. It is a time for solidarity and action.“
Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari then took a jibe at the PPP-led Sindh government over its insistence on the BISP, refusing to take advice from “those who turned Sindh into archaeological ruins”.
At one point, PPP’s Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, the first lady and an MNA, also joined the discourse and said that the BISP was the “most effective way” to distribute aid to flood-affected people, adding that it would be “irresponsible to not utilise it”.
On September 25, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari asserted that the BISP was the “sole method” of providing relief to those affected by the floods in the country, while PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz — who is also the Punjab chief minister — accused his party of “politicising” the issue.
“The PPP is our ally and I respect them, but unfortunately, they have been politicising the floods in Punjab,” the Punjab CM said.
“I don’t know their agenda, but I want to tell [President] Asif Zardari and [PPP Chairman] Bilawal … please help your party’s spokesperson understand that if, Gob forbid, there is a disaster in Sindh, Punjab would stand with it.”
CM Punjab went on to question the efficiency of BISP, calling it a “very simplistic solution” to an otherwise complicated problem. “What will people who have lost their homes, cattle, and crops do with just Rs10,000?”
’My water, my money’
However, tensions finally boiled over when, on September 29, Maryam resurrected the issue of the Cholistan canals project. The Cholistan water project has been a bone of contention between the Sindh and Punjab governments ever since the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) gave its nod on Jan 17, 2024 on the issuance of a water availability certificate for the controversial project.
Cholistan canal — also known as Cholistan Flood Feeder in papers — aims to develop a new command area, though in a phased manner, in southern Punjab, depending on flows from the Sutlej River besides flood supplies. Sutlej flows, according to Sindh’s position, depend on surplus releases from India ever since it was surrendered to India under the Indus Water Treaty 1960.
In April, the government had announced that it was halting the contentious canals project until a consensus on the issue could be reached in the Council of Common Interests (CCI).
In her fiery speech, Maryam had said, “If Punjab wants to construct canals for its water, why are you bothered? It is Punjab’s water. It belongs to the people, farmers and fields of Punjab.
“If I want to create canals, why do you object to it?” she questioned. “I wouldn’t have stolen water. I would have [used] them to create waterways and developed Cholistan,” she continued.
She said that India had also done something similar, adding: “So why can’t I? It is my water, my money, everything is mine.”
Reiterating her argument that funds given under the BISP were insufficient for flood relief, she also rejected the PPP’s proposition to seek international assistance to help people affected by recent floods in Punjab.
“Keep your advice to yourself,” she rebuked. “Punjab never interferes in your matters, so you don’t interfere in Punjab’s matters,” she said.
PPP takes offence, walks out of Parliament
The next day, PPP’s Naveed Qamar stood up in the National Assembly to record his party’s protest against Maryam’s speech and summarily walked out of the lower house of Parliament. The PPP also stayed away from the Senate session held the same day.
In his speech, PPP’s Qamar termed Maryam’s usage of words “regrettable”.
She [Maryam] says it is our water and we will make a canal. What does it mean?” asked Qamar, adding that “the River Indus water is for all the people” living in the country.
“If you do not want to act on our advice, then it’s okay, but we (PPP) are being taunted for providing support to this government which we are doing in national interest,” he said.
“It is becoming difficult for us to sit on the treasury benches,” he said amid sloganeering by some of the opposition PTI members. “The way things are moving, we will soon be there [opposition benches],” Qamar said while addressing the PTI lawmakers.
Subsequently, Law Minister Tarar, in a bid to diffuse the tension, offered an “apology” for Maryam’s remarks. He insisted that differences between the PML-N and the PPP were internal matters and expressed the hope that their alliance would remain intact.
This led to a meeting between PPP and PML-N bigwigs in Islamabad on Oct 1 where the former asked Maryam to “rethink her tone” while speaking about water rights and Sindh’s ruling party.
Maryam doubles down
Unfazed by apparent cracks in the ruling alliance, Maryam — who at this point was appearing on television screens daily — asserted on October 3 that she would “never apologise” for her remarks.
“I am not going to leave my people alone,” Maryam said. “If you talk, I’ll respond befittingly […] Think 100 times over before talking negatively about Punjab.”
During this time, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also allegedly discussed the situation between the two parties with his elder brother and Maryam’s father, Nawaz Sharif, requesting him to play his part in cooling off the tempers.
“The premier told the PML-N president that the PPP was its coalition partner and for smooth functioning of the government bickering between the two parties should not linger on,” a source privy to the meeting between the two brothers told Dawn.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar stated in the National Assembly that differences between the PPP and the PML-N would be resolved within a few days while also adding that verbal attacks from both sides should stop.
PPP walks out of Parliament again as president gets involved
Parliamentary proceedings were once again affected on October 6 as both houses of Parliament were adjourned without any agenda items being taken up following walkouts by PPP lawmakers.
During the Senate session, PPP’s Sherry Rehman, without naming the Punjab chief minister, expressed her concerns over the “divisive rhetoric emerging from Punjab towards Sindh”.
“The ongoing war of words between Punjab and Sindh is obviously affecting the unity and the coalition,” she said. However, she said, it became difficult “when someone crosses the red line and plays the Punjab card”. “A coalition cannot be run by insulting others,” she said.
The same day, President Asif Ali Zardari called Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to Karachi for an urgent meeting regarding the escalating row.
“President Zardari spoke to Interior Minister Naqvi over the phone to discuss the recent tensions between the Sindh and Punjab governments. The president has called the interior minister to Karachi for an urgent meeting in this regard,” the presidency said on X.
PPP escalates, Maryam deflects
On Tuesday, it appeared that the involvement of others had borne fruit as there appeared to be a slight shift in tone from both sides.
While the PPP stepped up its criticism of the Punjab government, Maryam avoided direct broadsides against the PPP, instead shifting her focus to their common foe, the PTI.
PPP’s Sherry Rehman warned the coalition ally of difficulties in the Senate without the former’s “clear support”.
“If you don’t need [us] then that’s your choice, but let me remind you we are the biggest party in the Senate and it will become very difficult for you without the PPP’s clear support,“ she said.
On the other hand, Maryam was more guarded in her remarks. However, she did allude to the ongoing rift, saying: “I am also cleaning the minds of those who are jealous of Punjab’s development. I am the chief minister of this province. If I don’t speak for Punjab, who will?”
Friends again?
As of now, reconciliation does not appear to be on the horizon even though efforts may be underway to secure a truce. An insider has told Dawn that Interior Minister Naqvi could ask the relevant quarters to intervene and get the warring sides to stand down.
According to him, the PPP’s grouse in Punjab is not limited to the flood issue. “The flood and canal issues have increased the already existing distrust between the two parties on this matter,” the source said.
Header image: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif addresses a ceremony in Lahore on October 3. — DawnNewsTV complete report is on below link.
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