Fourth time in a row Zardari declines Sharif’s meeting request

• A PPP leader says Zardari had ‘flatly refused’ to meet former PM, arguing his party was ‘not ready to be used’ to save an individual

• Kaira says Zardari, Bilawal had time and again stated there was nothing to discuss at the meeting

ISLAMABAD: It seems there are no concessions for former prime minister Nawaz Sharif this time around as Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has snubbed the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz president for a consecutive fourth time, by declining his public request for a meeting between the two estranged political friends.

On Wednesday, Mian Nawaz Sharif told journalists that he was ready to join hands with Zardari “unconditionally” for the sake of the constitution and improvement in the country.

Sharif had also expressed disappointment over PPP’s support for the Election (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which had sought repeal of the government’s amendment in Article 203 that enabled Sharif to become head of the PML-N after being disqualified by the apex court.

However, a well-placed source in the PPP told Pakistan Today that Zardari had flatly refused to meet with Nawaz, arguing that his party was ‘not ready to be used’ for saving an individual.

“I am not interested in saving a person who only wants to serve his interests,” the source quoted the PPP co-chairman as saying.

PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said that party chief Zardari had time and again conveyed to the PML-N leadership his decision regarding not meeting Nawaz. He said that Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had contacted PPP leader Syed Khursheed Shah seeking a meeting with Zardari to discuss the delimitation bill.

“The request has been communicated to Zardari, and the response would be communicated to the prime minister accordingly,” he said. Asked to comment on Nawaz Sharif’s public request for a meeting with Zardari, Farhatullah said that time and again Zardari had said that he would not be having a meeting with the ousted PM.

“The same has been repeated by Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” he added. He said that it was some weeks back that Zardari had said that he would not be having any meeting with Nawaz. He said there was nothing new in the recent reports over the matter.

He added that the party had not issued any official statement regarding Zardari’s refusal to meet Nawaz. He said that even if the party sources are claiming about a refusal from the PPP co-chairman, this is consistent with the previous statements of the PPP supremo.

He also said that his party would not like to create news out of it.

“Whatever has been stated has been stated in the past. Latest is the desire by the prime minister (Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) for a meeting with Zardari sahib. So the request has been conveyed to Zardari, but there are no further deliberations over the matter. Whatever the decision, it would be communicated,” he added.

PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira also told this scribe that Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had time and again stated publicly there was nothing to have a discussion at the meeting.

“We have been advising Mian Sahib but he did not take it. He did not cement the democratic trends. But now, while Nawaz Sharif is in a fix, he wants [the meeting]. We have been cooperating with him for the sake of democracy, but we can’t cooperate for safeguarding the crimes of any individual,” he argued.

Kaira said that the PPP parliamentary team would interact with the ruling party when and if they would need support for any legislation in the name of democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari lashed out at Nawaz Sharif, stating that ousted prime minister does not even know the meaning of the term ideology.

“Mian Nawaz Sharif Sahab doesn’t understand the meaning of ideology. You can change your position for your own purposes,” he said while talking to media on Thursday.

Bilawal made this remark while referring to PML-N president’s claim that Nawaz Sharif is not a person “but an ideology”. Bilawal further termed Nawaz Sharif to be opportunistic, who changes his position and statements to suit himself.

Criticising PML-N president further, the PPP leader stated that Nawaz has been involved in all the conspiracies against democracy in Pakistan. “Mian Nawaz Sharif Sahab is a threat to democracy,” he claimed.

He further claimed that PPP is making efforts to strengthen the democratic process in the country.

WHAT MADE ZARDARI FURIOUS?

A senior PPP leader said that Asif Zardari was furious over Nawaz Sharif for dumping him to flatter the military establishment in the past.

“Soon after Zardari made a strong speech against the military establishment in June 2016, Nawaz Sharif, then prime minister, had cancelled a feast arranged for PPP co-chairman just to please the military establishment. Now, when he is pitched against the same institution, he wants to use Zardari’s shoulder to target the military. We won’t let it happen,” the PPP leader asserted.

The PPP leader said another major reason was how Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the then interior minister, had hounded, grilled and arrested model Ayyan Ali in a money laundering case.

“The way the model was put on the ECL and kept detained was uncalled for,” the PPP leader maintained.

The PPP leader said that another reason was how Chaudhry Nisar had arrested and implicated Dr Asim Hussain—a longtime comrade of Zardari.

“[Right now] it is nothing but a payback time for Nawaz Sharif. The PPP co-chairman is not ready to be fooled again,’ he asserted.

It is crucial to mention here that after being disqualified in Panama Papers case, it is not the first time Nawaz Sharif has sought a meeting with Asif Zardari, which has been declined by the PPP chief.

On October 9, the former president had said in an interview that a disqualified individual could not become a party’s president in a democratic system.

On August 16, Zardari had said that he had no interest in establishing contact with Nawaz Sharif. The PPP leader had also stressed he had no interest in becoming part of a ‘Grand National Dialogue’ proposed earlier by Nawaz Sharif.

Earlier this month, Zardari had told his party workers that meeting the PML-N president would tantamount to ‘high treason’.

Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif had also admitted that he had failed to establish a contact between the two leaders.

“I tried to contact Zardari many times, even left messages for him with his ADC, but Zardari didn’t answer any of my calls,” Asif had said when he had mentioned contacting Farooq Naek, a PPP lawyer, to take up the Iqama (work permit) case against him.

Asked if there was a chance of PML-N and PPP working together, the minister had said that he could not say anything for sure. “Personally speaking, I think there is no chance of contact between the two parties,” he opined.