Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N President Mian Nawaz Sharif is arriving in Sindh on Monday (today) to visit the rain-hit areas of the province. An important part of his visit is his meeting with former chief minister and Sindh National Front (SNF) Chairman Mumtaz Ali Bhutto.
A major decision is expected as an outcome of the meeting and the two might form an alliance against President Asif Ali Zardari or the SNF might merge completely with the PML-N with Mumtaz Bhutto being given an important assignment in Sindh. Whatever is decided in the meeting would be a result of ‘backdoor diplomacy’ that has continued for years.
Eight months ago, Mumtaz Bhutto went Lahore and was a guest of Sharifs and some say that he was accommodated at the Punjab Chief Minister’s House. Mumtaz Bhutto is a big figure of his time in Sindh, leading his party Sindh National Front (SNF) now after quitting the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) because of his differences with Begum Nusrat Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto.
Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa and Mehtab Abbasi of the PML-N during their last visit to Sindh also met with Mumtaz Bhutto and discussed with him the political situation of the country and the possibilities of a joint struggle and working together against the PPP government. Following the disorganised state of the PML-N in Sindh, Nawaz Sharif started looking for new friends, who can provide him with a political force in Sindh, an important province after Punjab.
Sharif also meet with Sindh Tarraqi Pasand Party (STPP) Chairman Dr Qadir Magsi in Hyderabad. Mumtaz Ali Bhutto has called his party leaders to Karachi for further consultation and meeting with Nawaz Sharif. During Sahrif’s meeting with Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, he would be accompanied by his party’s central and leadership. Sharif might not have lunch with Mumtaz Bhutto because of his busy schedule in the rain-hit areas, but he will meet Mumtaz Bhutto at his residence on Monday.
The media has been invited to cover this event. “Mumtaz Bhutto has made it clear to Nawaz Sharif that the basic cause of the problems confronted by the country is President Zardari. Many meetings were held with the Sharif brothers. If there will be a move against the PPP government, the SNF will be with Nawaz Sharif” spokesman for SNF Anwar Gujjar told Pakistan Today on Sunday.
About rumours of a merger of SNF with the PML-N, Gujjar said that they are baseless. “It is impossible because Mumtaz Ali Bhutto has his own ideology of politics that is totally different from the PML-N. He, however, has accepted a close alliance between the PML-N and the SNF.
Nawaz and Mumtaz, alliance or merger?
