Bouquet diplomacy: Nawaz offers, Imran accepts hatchet-burying offer

PML-N chief visits PTI chief in hospital, says differences have been resolved.

LAHORE:

Declaring a moratorium on all the bruising duels he had with cricketing legend-turned-politician Imran Khan in the run-up to the 2013 elections, Nawaz Sharif visited the ailing Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader in hospital on Tuesday to ask him to let bygones be bygones.

“I told him that we should work together to bring prosperity to the people of Pakistan. He also said that we should remove our anger,” Nawaz told journalists after visiting Imran, who is recuperating at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital after sustaining head and back injuries in a fall during a rally last Tuesday.

“We have resolved our differences today. He assured me of a good working relationship,” he said.



During campaigning Nawaz and his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, were harshly critisised by Imran. Similarly, PML-N leaders also heaped criticism on Imran during their public speeches in the run-up to the elections.

Interestingly, Imran had earlier refused to see Nawaz Sharif in the hospital. Many wonder what caused this rapprochement between the two bitter rivals? The Saudi ambassador brought about this change of heart, according to sources.

Sources said that top Saudi envoy in Islamabad, Abdul Aziz Ibrahim Saleh Al Ghadeer, met Imran at the hospital on Tuesday morning to enquire about his health. And it was he who persuaded him to see Nawaz Sharif. Sources added that close mutual friends of the two leaders also played a crucial role.

PTI senior leader Naeemul Haq confirmed that the Saudi ambassador met with Imran – but denied that he facilitated the meeting with Nawaz.



“He [Imran] congratulated me for victory and I also congratulated him for his victory in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” Nawaz said. “We don’t have any personal rivalry. Pakistan is in trouble and we should work together to give a better Pakistan to next generations,” he added.

Using cricketing diction in a lighter vein, the would-be premier also said that “we will play a friendly match, once he recovers”.

Nawaz pledged to work together with Imran, whose PTI has emerged as the third largest party in the National Assembly and the largest part in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He also tried to lay to rest rumours that the PML-N was planning to cobble together a coalition government in K-P. “We respect PTI’s mandate in K-P and we expect him to respect our mandate for moving forward,” he added. He refused to comment on protest sit-ins by PTI supporters in major urban centres of the country against alleged rigging in the elections.

Asked about future relations with the United States, the incoming premier said Pakistan wants to resolve all contentious issues through talks. In an interaction with foreign journalists on Monday, Nawaz said that US drone strikes in tribal regions were challenging Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Unease in PTI

Nawaz’s overture -- delivered with a bouquet of flowers -- to Imran has disillusioned PTI supporters who have been staging dharnas against alleged rigging in the elections. The PTI chief had said during campaigning that Nawaz was on a list drawn up of 500 corrupt people who would face the consequences if he was voted to power. Senior PTI leadership also reportedly complained to Imran that they were not taken into confidence.

On the other hand, some PML-N officials said the party was worried about the persisting protests by PTI supporters against alleged rigging in the elections and their social media campaign against PML-N’s victory. This, according to them, forced Nawaz and senior party leaders to go and visit Imran as a goodwill gesture.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2013.