With mistrust on both sides, the unification of PML-N and PML-Q seems a far fetched idea, especially under the present circumstances when the PML-Q is comfortable and happy with the ruling PPP.
PML-F leader Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood met PML-Q top leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi seeking the PML’s unification but he returned empty-handed. Insiders said that it was Mehmood’s personal initiative, who was seeking political mileage. “He is the only PML-F member in Punjab and thinks that by bringing the leagues together, he would get some important role,” sources said. Since the rise of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) as a political force, the balance of power in Punjab was tilting against the PML-N. No wonder PML-N supporters were quite worried over their declining reputation. Mehmood was also convinced that if the PML-N and PML-Q got their axes together then they would have no worry at all in coming days but PML-Q leaders were looking at these efforts as late, especially when they were chalking out a strategy with the PPP for Senate polls and the next general elections.
PML-Q leaders believed that the PML-N was a bit late in launching reconciliation efforts and it was not the right time. They said that the PML-N’s behaviour had not changed and they were not serious in PML’s unification. “If the PML-N leadership is serious in uniting the leagues then they should instantly disown the Forward Bloc, as in this way we would consider that they are serious and have mended their ways,” PML-Q leader Kamil Ali Agha said while taking to Pakistan Today. He denied involvement of any newspaper editor in the recent efforts for the PML’s unification and reports that Mehmood brought any message from a senior journalist. He said that besides Mehmood another senior lawyer-cum-politician was also involved in this regard.
He said that the PML-Q had never remained an obstacle in uniting the leagues but the stubbornness of the Sharifs had dented prospects in this regard. Kamil said that the PML-Q remained intact in hard times and kept its identity. “The PML-N leadership’s stubbornness dented the leagues and now when they (PML-N) are finding themselves in hot waters, they are talking about unification,” he said, adding that the PML-Q faced many troubles boldly and but the PML-N was trying helplessly to save itself from the public’s wrath. Kamil said that the Muslim League got divided over the stubbornness and behaviour of the Sharifs and if they were ready to give up their old ways then there could be talks of unification.
