PM, Sharif meeting: Gilani urges PML-N to keep its cool

PML-N seems all set to kick out PPP from Punjab government but Gilani continues to play the peace-maker

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz seems all set to kick out Pakistan Peoples Party from the Punjab government but Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani continues to play the peace-maker and has asked the Nawaz League not to resort to politics of confrontation by taking any drastic steps that may spoil the spirit of the Charter of Democracy.

In a last-ditch effort, just hours after a meeting held by Nawaz Sharif and his advisers on the parting of ways with the PPP, and the formal announcement as such, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has once again sought more time to implement the 10-point agenda.

In a move to save its alliance with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz in Punjab, Gilani met with a delegation of the PML-N which included Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and two other senior PML-N leaders Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Senator Ishaq Dar. Gilani promised them that the government would implement most of the points of the agenda in the coming days. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, the finance minister, also joined in later, according to an official statement issued after the meeting.

This announcement comes just a day before the crucial meeting of the Executive Committee of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz where the party is expected to formally announce its future course of action about its relationship with the Pakistan Peoples Party.

Prime Minister Gilani said  that supreme national interests demand sagacity as well as continuance of engagements through dialogue, the statement said adding that Gilani reiterated the government’s policy of reconciliation. During the meeting the progress on the implementation of the 10-point agenda was reviewed, the statement added.

However official sources told The Express Tribune that Gilani asked the PML-N leaders for more time to implement the 10-point agenda. According to sources Gilani said that the Awami National Party (ANP) and other allies have demanded that all political forces be taken into confidence on the package.

Gilani  said the government has already implemented some of the points and promised that it would implement some more points in the coming days.

“We will continue to work on economic reforms and it is a continuous process ,” an official quoted Gilani as telling the visiting PML-N leaders.

Shahbaz Sharif later said that the details of the discussion held in the Prime Minister’s House would be put before the PML-N Executive Committee today (Friday).

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif will preside over the meeting which will include the unification bloc, the breakaway faction of PML-Q whose support it needs to maintain its government in Punjab in case it breaks away from the PPP in the province. The PML-Q and PPP are protesting the PML-N’s decision to take the unification bloc along, saying that it would usher in the politics of turncoats and buying of loyalties.

The Punjab chapter of the PPP has already warned that in case they were excluded from the Punjab government they could bring a no-trust motion against the Punjab chief minister and would move courts to disqualify members of the unification bloc.

Earlier in the day, in a meeting held by Nawaz Sharif with his advisers, it was decided that Gilani should be formally informed about the PML-N’s decision of removing PPP members from the Punjab government, The Express Tribune has learnt.

However, sources also quoted the PML-N workers as saying that they would give the PPP some time and not destabilise the federal government until the budget speech, sources said.

In this meeting it was also decided that four ministries and seven slots of parliamentary secretaries would be assigned to the unification block of 47 dissident members of the PML-Q.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah said that if the PPP pushes for a vote of confidence for the chief minister in the Punjab Assembly, then the PML-N would move for a vote of confidence against the prime minister in the centre.

President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani have mutually resolved that PPP will not be the first to end reconciliation policy, and that they will wait for the PML-N’s final decision before crafting their own course of action.

During a late-night meeting, the premier updated the president on the details of talks held with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, saying that the government team informed the ‘N’ league about the progress made in the implementation of reforms agenda.

He told the president that the PML-N delegation assured him that they will put up the point of view of the government before the party meeting fixed for Friday and base their decision on that.

The president also held consultations with the PM on his Kuwait visit starting from Friday. He said the PPP will continue its policy of reconciliation because it is in the interest of the country’s solidarity. (with additional reporting by  abdul manan IN lAHORE)

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2011.