President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday assured the heads of the coalition parties that their demands would be accommodated in the post scenario of the Senate elections as the ruling party wanted to continue its coalition for the upcoming general elections. A source told Pakistan Today that the president expressed these views while chairing a meeting of the coalition parties at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid President Shujaat Hussain, Awami National Party President Asfandyar Wali Khan, PML-Q Secretary General Mushahid Hussain Sayed, ANP’s Afrasiab Khattak, Farooq Sattar and Babar Ghauri from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Munir Khan Orakzai and Noorul Haq Qadri of the FATA parliamentary group attended the meeting.
Apart from discussing the coalition parties’ success in the Senate elections, the meeting discussed the overall political situation in the country with particular reference to the post-Senate elections situation and coalition matters. Farhatullah Babar said the heads of the allied parties congratulated the president for the smooth holding of the elections and also for the thumping majority secured by the coalition parties in the Upper House of parliament. They also thanked the president for PPP’s support to the coalition parties in the Senate elections. Zardari praised the role of the allied parties in strengthening democracy and democratic institutions.