Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Sunday hinted at the possibility of meeting between Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, weeks after their children meet at an iftar dinner hosted at Zardari House in Islamabad.
Speaking to the media, PPP leader and Sindh Minister for Local Government Saeed Ghani said that if PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz can meet so can they. He said that the opposition parties will not allow government’s “ill-intentioned schemes” to work, adding that the “selected” Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administrators want everything to be “selected”.
He also defended Justice Qazi Faez Isa who is currently facing a misconduct reference filed against him by the government. He said that Justice Isa is one of the most respected judges of the country and he has always abided by the code of conduct.
On May 19, major opposition parties, including PML-N and PPP had hinted at the revival of the Charter of Democracy (CoD), saying that “the agreement has not ended and the new generation will keep on adding to it”.
Addressing a joint press conference with PML-N leaders, including Maryam and former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman after the iftar-dinner, Bilawal had said that the opposition has decided to join hands to find solutions to the issues the country is facing. He also announced that all opposition parties will launch a protest inside and outside the parliament after Eid.
Abbasi had said that all parties have agreed that the government has failed in running the affairs of the country. He added that after Eid, an All Parties Conference (APC) would be held where a joint strategy would be formulated.
Earlier, both PPP and PML-N had decided to launch anti-government movements separately but after the meeting, the opposition leaders had decided to join hands to give a tough time to the government inside and outside the parliament after Eid.
The meeting had also expressed concerns over the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) being allegedly used for ‘political victimisation’ of the opposition leaders.
It is worth mentioning here that NAB is currently pursuing the fake accounts case against PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur. Sharifs are also at the receiving end of NAB: elder Sharif is in jail, while younger is out of the country on bail.