LAHORE: Former prime minister and President of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Punjab Raja Pervez Ashraf on Friday said the party would soon make a strong comeback in Punjab and surprise everyone.
Addressing party workers in Lahore, Ashraf rejected claims that the PPP had weakened, saying such assertions should be weighed against who had actually grown stronger. “The people will soon witness the return of PPP in Lahore and across Punjab,” he said.
He maintained that political ups and downs do not define a party’s strength, adding that the third generation of PPP leadership was now actively participating in politics and the party would play a key role in national affairs in the coming years.
Ashraf said there was hardly any household in Pakistan that had not, at some point, been associated with the PPP, stressing the need to move forward by engaging youth and women. He said the newly-formed party organisation in Lahore would bring political transformation to the city, which would later spread across Punjab.
He added the PPP leadership continued to struggle for the rights of oppressed and marginalised segments of society, emphasising that the party’s politics was not based on abuse but on numerical strength. “Our aim is to increase our representation in the assemblies,” he said.
Ashraf alleged that the PPP was deliberately pushed out of power politics in Punjab through conspiracies, adding that the party was currently part of a political alliance. He said that had the PPP and PML-N not come together, the country’s unity could have been at risk. “This alliance will continue as long as necessary, and we do not intend to attack anyone,” he added.
Referring to political history, he said that in 2002 the PML-N had only 22 members in the National Assembly but later secured a two-thirds majority. Similarly, he said, the founder of PTI initially entered politics alone and now considers himself the sole source of power.
Commenting on the recent deaths of a mother and her child in Lahore after they fell into a sewer line, Ashraf said the tragedy was turned into a drama to mislead the public. He lamented that even in 2026 people in Pakistan were dying after being burnt alive or drowning in open sewers, adding that merely suspending officers was a mockery of accountability. “How can justice be served by paying one crore rupees to the aggrieved family?” he asked, warning that cosmetic measures would no longer be tolerated. Speaking about the 18th Constitutional Amendment, Ashraf said it was passed through consensus, with all political parties jointly approving it.
He also termed Basant a beautiful festival but stressed that the protection of human life must be ensured during all social and cultural activities.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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