ISLAMABAD – Realising that the economic and security situation in the country cannot improve without all political parties, in and outside parliament, being on the same page, the government is considering a proposal of forming a government of ‘national consensus.’
A source told Pakistan Today on Tuesday that the government was seriously thinking about the proposal and if all political parties agreed to it, a government of national consensus could possibly be formed in May. Even Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani dropped a hint of formation of a national government when asked if there was such a possibility when he said “politics was a day-to-day affair.”
Asked to comment on the news of talks between the PPP and the PML-Q for the latter’s joining the federal government, Gilani did not deny the notion, but hinted that talks had not been finalised yet. While the efforts are afoot to take the PML-Q into the government’s fold at the Centre, the government is also likely to invite other political parties to join the broad-based dispensation, the source said, adding that the PML-N, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, Baloch and Pakhtun nationalist parties and the Jamaat-e-Islami would also be approached in this regard.
The source said the government would also contact the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leadership, asking them to rejoin the government in the larger national and democratic interest and be a part of the national consensus government. He said that the government would also try to convince MQM leadership to help the government in tackling the crucial economic and energy crisis to strengthen the process of national consensus in the interest of the democratic process.
Prime Minister Gilani also hinted at the return of the MQM and the JUI-F to the federal cabinet, saying that this possibility could not be ruled out.
