In the swiftly-changing political scenario, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s Sharif brothers have begun to look for dissenters within the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and offering lucrative offers to any possible defectors to counter the PPP’s emerging alliances, which are damaging the PML-N.
Pakistan Today learned on Wednesday that the political archrival of Chaudhrys of Gujrat and former political adviser to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, Nawabzada Ghazanfar Gul, who is prominent among PPP leaders opposing their party’s alliance with the PML-Q, has been contacted by the PML-N and a secret meeting was held on Saturday between Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Gull at the Sharifs’ residence in Model Town.
Sources said the meeting lasted four hours, and was also attended by National Assembly Opposition Leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, while PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif was also on the line from London. They said that the regional politics of Gujrat remained the focus of the meeting. The sources added that the Sharifs, who wanted to disgrace the Chaudhrys at all cost, offered Gul to join the PML-N, and if that were not possible, then they would not field a candidate against him in the next general elections and would also support his candidates for the provincial assembly seats.
The PPP bigwig from Gujrat was asked to muster more support within his party against the impending PPP-PML-Q alliance. The PML-N leadership asked Gul, who is considered a close aide of Gilani’s, to convince President Asif Zardari and the premier to form a coalition with all parties except PML-Q. The PPP leader was also told by the PML-N that assurance could be given to the PPP that if it ceased efforts to include the PML-Q in the government, the government could not only be helped out in the passing the Finance Bill in the National Assembly, but would also complete its constitutional tenure.
