ISLAMABAD – Allaying concerns of some of the PPP parliamentarians over power-sharing deal with the PML-Q, President Asif Ali Zardari has said if he could reconcile with the MQM, which had killed more than 100 PPP workers, there was no harm in shaking hands with the Chaudhrys to advance the party’s policy of reconciliation in national interest, Pakistan Today learnt on Wednesday.
A source in the PPP said President Zardari, while addressing a PPP parliamentary party meeting the other night, told them that the party was negotiating a political partnership deal with the PML-Q as the country needed a policy of reconciliation and not of confrontation. “President Zardari said the MQM had killed 100 PPP workers in Karachi and Sindh but in response the PPP opted for the policy of reconciliation in national interest,” said the source.
The source said around 85 percent party lawmakers were provided the floor to express their opinion on ongoing issues. “Nadeem Afzal Chan expressed reservations over joining hands with the PML-Q, saying that the Chaudhrys had victimised PPP leaders and workers particularly in Gujrat during previous regime,” said the source, adding that in response, President Zardari said he had taken PPP leaders from the Gujrat Division on board before negotiating power-sharing formula with the PML-Q leadership.
The source said Ahmed Mukhtar, Qamar Zaman Kaira and Nazar Muhammad Gondal gave full authority to the president and the prime minister to negotiate political partnership with the PML-Q saying that they had no objection to it as it was in the interest of the party and the country.
No harm in shaking hands with the Chaudhrys: Zardari
