ISLAMABAD: While the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has agreed to support the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on issues related to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the legal team of Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s party expressed concerns about the future repercussions of these decisions.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held consultations at the President’s House on Friday with allied parties, including the PPP, regarding the Supreme Court’s 8-5 verdict on reserved seats.

Sources said the ruling party aims to gain allies’ confidence on its plan to ban the PTI, a move that has drawn criticism from various political figures.

The PPP fully supported the PML-N’s review petition in the Supreme Court regarding the reserved seats order, sources within the PPP said.

However, the PPP refrained from endorsing the ban on the PTI. Both parties agreed to discuss the issue of banning the PTI within their respective parties first and then bring it before parliament. Subsequently, the issue will be presented to the federal cabinet.

The PML-N’s legal team briefed PPP leaders on its decisions regarding the PTI during a meeting that lasted for one and a half hours.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Awan explained the legal aspects of the government’s plan to ban the PTI.

However, members of the PPP’s legal team voiced concerns about the potential future impacts of these decisions. Despite this, both parties agreed to make all decisions regarding the PTI unanimously and continue negotiations in the future.

This development comes a week after the Supreme Court ruled that the PTI is eligible for reserved seats for women and minorities.

Justice Mansoor Ali Shah of the Supreme Court’s full bench announced the 8-5 majority verdict, overturning the Peshawar High Court’s order that had upheld the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision denying the reserved seats to the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).

Following the verdict, the PML-N filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against its decision, nominating 11 respondents, including the SIC and its chairman Hamid Raza.

The petition requested the court to suspend its July 12, 2024, ruling on the reserved seats and raised several questions, including whether the SIC should be granted the reserved seats and if a political party that had not submitted a party list within the prescribed time could be given reserved seats.

It also questioned if independents could join a political party that did not win a single general seat in parliament and whether the seats should be left vacant or distributed among the contesting political parties.