PPP chairman Bilawal expected to meet Nawaz Sharif in London amid row over cabinet berths

Islamabad [Pakistan], April 20 (ANI): Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has departed for London where he is expected to meet former Pakistan Prime Minister and PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif to discuss the current political situation in the country.
“The main purpose of meeting Nawaz Sharif is to congratulate him on the coalition government and discuss the current political situation,” PPP Secretary-General Farhatullah Babar told The News International.
However, the Pakistan media report said that there was some issue in the coalition between Shehbaz Sharif’s government and he wanted to resolve it first.
The Pakistani newspaper said Bilawal wanted to discuss major issues with Nawaz Sharif for an amicable solution. They said Bilawal also wanted to take up the non-inclusion of the ANP, BNP (Mengal) and Moshin Dawar in the cabinet with Nawaz Sharif.
Merely a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed a 33-member federal cabinet, bitterness among the ruling alliance emerged over the allocation of key portfolios.
Pakistan Acting President Sadiq Sanjrani on Tuesday administered the oath to the 34-member council of ministers of the newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Although the oath was taken by 33 lawmakers, a notification issued by the country’s Cabinet Division carried the names of 26 federal ministers and two ministers of state, Dawn newspaper reported.
Several members of the cabinet, from the PML-N, were still under consideration, the Pakistani daily reported citing a source in the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The report said the two main parties of the ruling coalition — Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) — are at odds over the selection of their members for the cabinet and distribution of portfolios.
Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday had congratulated his cabinet members, urging them to work hard for the betterment of the people. “The federal cabinet was formed after thorough consultations with PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and the government’s coalition allies,” the Pakistan prime minister said in a tweet.
“It is my fervent hope that federal ministers, ministers of state and advisers will provide leadership, and resolve the problems of the people. Work, work and only work is our motto,” he tweeted further. (ANI)