Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has directed senior PML-N leaders to avoid any public reaction to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s remarks about Pakistan’s “collapsed system”, according to sources (Geo News).
Nawaz emphasised that Pakistan’s present circumstances demand complete unity among state institutions and continuity in the working relationship between the elected government and the military leadership, the sources said.
He conveyed that given the country’s economic, political and security challenges, nothing should be allowed to create even the perception of differences between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and Field Marshal Asim Munir, who holds the roles of Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces.
Sources insist the civil and military leadership remain on the same page regarding the country’s key priorities.
The instruction lands after several days in which PML-N figures did respond publicly. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on X that he largely agreed with Naqvi’s assessment, then told him to begin reforming the system through his own ministry and to pursue institutional reform through parliament and the cabinet, of which Naqvi is a member.
Naqvi, speaking at the Pakistan Economic Summit in Islamabad, said the governance system had “collapsed” and called for new administrative units. The remarks drew a rebuke from the PPP, which said province creation requires two-thirds majorities in the relevant provincial assembly and parliament; Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah dismissed the proposal as “a stereotype which people of this mystic land will not accept”; the Lahore High Court Bar Association called it unconstitutional; and the Awami Tehreek demanded Naqvi’s resignation.
This account rests on unnamed sources as reported, and the PML-N has not issued a formal statement on the direction.
