ISLAMABAD – In the wake of the apparent standoff between the PPP and the PML-N over the implementation of the PML-N’s 10-point reforms agenda by February 23, President Asif Ali Zardari in a consultative meeting on Sunday authorised Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to contact PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif to defuse tension before it converted into a political crisis in the country.
The meeting was held amid reports that Shahbaz Sharif’s government in Punjab was considering sending the PPP to opposition benches. A source told Pakistan Today that Zardari and Gilani met to discuss the overall political situation in the country with focus on threats hurled by the PML-N leaders regarding the ouster of PPP ministers from the Punjab cabinet.
The source said Gilani could visit Raiwand in the coming days to avert any face-off between the two parties.”Both leaders decided that the PPP will not voluntarily quit the Punjab government,” the source said, adding that the prime minister told President Zardari that the government had made remarkable progress in the implementation of the PML-N’s reforms agenda “but the issues like power outages, inflation etc were too complex to be resolved in days and weeks”.
He said Zardari asked Gilani to counter PML-N’s accusations that the government had failed in implementing its reforms agenda sticking to the party’s policy of reconciliation. “The president and the prime minister also touched upon the contentious issue of Raymond Davis reaffirming the government’s stance that Davis’ diplomatic immunity issue would be decided by the court,” the source said.
He said that the two agreed that the PPP would exercise restraint in taking any disciplinary action against Shah Mehmood Qureshi for his tirade against the government.In a related development, Gilani has convened a joint parliamentary party meeting of the PPP, ANP, MQM and FATA parliamentarians today (Monday) to discuss the overall political situation with the lawmakers.
“Prime Minister Gilani will take into confidence lawmakers on the recent cabinet right-sizing as well as the government’s steps to implement the PML-N’s reforms agenda,” a source in the PPP.
