Pakistan Muslim League (PML)-Likeminded President Senator Salim Saifullah on Sunday said his party would not accept any offer to join the ruling coalition. “I have not been approached by the president or the prime minister in this regard and even if the PML-likeminded is offered to join the PPP-led coalition government, we will not become part of it,” he said in an exclusive talk with Pakistan Today.
He said the PPP government had been sending messages seeking cooperation indirectly but there was no serious offer of power-sharing deal. “Definitely, Ch Shujaat Hussain will set a condition before the PPP’s top command to keep the likeminded group at a distance,” he said, adding that he (Shujaat) had so much grudge against the likeminded bloc that he even backtracked from his move of unifying the PML factions under Pir Pagara when the PML-Likeminded joined the initiative.
Saifullah said the PPP-PML-Q alliance was against the PML-N. “The enemy of the enemy is your friend and the growing friendship between the two parties is based on the same proverb,” he said, adding that the PPP’s power-sharing offer to the PML-Q could be President Zardari’s political hedging to haunt the MQM.
He admitted that some MNAs of the likeminded group used to take policy lines from the PPP command. Saifullah said his party was more inclined towards the PML-N than the PPP. “A meeting between me and Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan is expected soon to bridge the gulf between two parties,” he added.