NEWS ANALYSIS
All main political parties have started making moves to cover their tracks, keeping in mind worst-case scenarios. The meeting between PML-Q central leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Law Minister Babar Awan, the PPP firebrand who is taking on the Sharifs and the Punjab government head-on these days, is part of these very moves, political leaders believe.
The meeting, according to the Chaudhrys camp, was held on the request of Awan, who dashed to city on Sunday (last). During the meeting, both sides discussed the prevailing political situation. The conduct of the Sharif brothers – both political and while running the affairs of the Punjab, was a matter of common interest.
“The PPP leadership seems concerned over the signs of a change of heart on part of Nawaz Sharif,” a PML-Q leader told Pakistan Today soon after the meeting. Sources said that the leaders of the two parties were in touch for sometime, though these contacts intensified recently after the rift between the PPP and PML-N and the widening of gulfs between the PPP and the MQM amid the unhelpful rumours of a regime change in Pakistan.
Sources privy to these contacts said that it was for the first time that leaders from both sides sought to publicise these contacts held at the highest levels. “The reason behind making these contacts public is to give a signal to all stakeholders as to where the things are heading,” another PML-Q leader said.
Foremost among these stakeholders are PML-N leaders, who are exhibiting an increasing uneasiness towards the PPP leadership with all signs of a change of heart on part of the Sharifs. Recently, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif made it clear that it was about time for a political change in the country to be made through political means, which implies that the PML-N intends to withdraw support for the PPP government and prime minister.
The PML-Q is also trying hard to bring the party dissidents (forward block) back into party’s fold to consolidate its bargaining position. “It is a signal for the PML-Q dissidents about which way the things are heading. This will give them a clear indication of the current political situation, which will be good for the PML-Q,” a political leader said.
Recently, PML-Q quietly approached members of the forward block, seeking a good response, a PML-Q leader claimed. He claimed that around 70 percent of the members who switched over to the PML-N now felt bitter about the PML-N leaders and were ready to come back in the PML-Q.
“The meeting between Senator Tariq Azeem and Shahbaz Sharif recently was meant to confuse these members and dissuade them from re-joining the PML-Q,” sources said.
The meeting also underlined very strongly that a political realignment is in the offing and all major parties are in the process of evaluating their responses and options, which could be invoked at the right moment. It has been learnt that the PML-N is also contacting PML-Q) MNAs and senators through Senator Tariq Azeem.
It is interesting that the PPP chose Awan to reopen talks with the Chaudhrys publicly. He is a person backed by both Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and the president, with political leaders saying the meeting, therefore, had the blessings of the top PPP leadership.
