PML-N looks to unite parties on anti-govt platform
Party leaders say Punjab CM will soon establish ‘direct contact’ with MQM hierarchy.
ISLAMABAD:
Preparing to create a grand opposition alliance, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif is looking to gather all political parties hostile towards the government, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), on a “minimum agenda”: to overthrow the current setup, his associates said.
At least two top leaders of the PML-N told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would soon establish ‘direct contact’ with the MQM hierarchy, including its London-based chief, Altaf Hussain. They did not, however, specify when or how any such contact would be established.
Simultaneously, some other associates of Sharif had been tasked to approach the rightwing opponents of President Asif Ali Zardari’s government, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Both the MQM and the JUI-F walked away from an alliance with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Officials in the PML-N said the decision to go all out to dislodge the government was taken during a recent meeting of top party leaders in Lahore chaired by Nawaz Sharif.
They added that the resignation by MQM members from both federal and provincial cabinets to join the opposition had lured the PML-N into thinking that it might be the right time for gathering their support against the government.
“We believe it is the best time to go in for a kill … it looks like the iron is hot and now is the time that we can hit it as hard as possible,” said a PML-N official, who attended the meeting.
A spokesperson of the party also confirmed that the PML-N was looking forward to working with the MQM as a more “coordinated opposition” and both groups could explore “common ground” against the government.
However, MNA Ahsan Iqbal denied that a high level contact was being established with the MQM or that the PML-N was hoping for a formal alliance with the party.
“We are not strangers to each other … we know each other and have been maintaining a shared stance on various issues recently and I think we can work together in the future. But this does not necessarily mean we can become partners,” Iqbal said.
He added that the alleged rigging in the recent Kashmir elections, unbridled corruption in government departments and the poor rule of law were the issues that could bring the two groups together.
A close associate of Sharif, Zulfikar Khosa, also told the media in Lahore that there were prospects of the PML-N and the MQM working together in the days to come.
According to officials, the PML-N chief had barred his party leaders from issuing hostile statements against the MQM and Altaf Hussain, an issue that has been keeping both parties away from each other in recent years.
According to the plans, the PML-N would hit the streets with its campaign to dislodge the government immediately after the month of Ramadan that ends early September.
Before that, Iqbal said, the group would complete its lingering reorganisation campaign by the end of next month.
The Express Tribune tried to seek comments from a few MQM leaders but none of them was available.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2011.
Preparing to create a grand opposition alliance, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif is looking to gather all political parties hostile towards the government, including the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), on a “minimum agenda”: to overthrow the current setup, his associates said.
At least two top leaders of the PML-N told The Express Tribune on Wednesday that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would soon establish ‘direct contact’ with the MQM hierarchy, including its London-based chief, Altaf Hussain. They did not, however, specify when or how any such contact would be established.
Simultaneously, some other associates of Sharif had been tasked to approach the rightwing opponents of President Asif Ali Zardari’s government, including the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
Both the MQM and the JUI-F walked away from an alliance with the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
Officials in the PML-N said the decision to go all out to dislodge the government was taken during a recent meeting of top party leaders in Lahore chaired by Nawaz Sharif.
They added that the resignation by MQM members from both federal and provincial cabinets to join the opposition had lured the PML-N into thinking that it might be the right time for gathering their support against the government.
“We believe it is the best time to go in for a kill … it looks like the iron is hot and now is the time that we can hit it as hard as possible,” said a PML-N official, who attended the meeting.
A spokesperson of the party also confirmed that the PML-N was looking forward to working with the MQM as a more “coordinated opposition” and both groups could explore “common ground” against the government.
However, MNA Ahsan Iqbal denied that a high level contact was being established with the MQM or that the PML-N was hoping for a formal alliance with the party.
“We are not strangers to each other … we know each other and have been maintaining a shared stance on various issues recently and I think we can work together in the future. But this does not necessarily mean we can become partners,” Iqbal said.
He added that the alleged rigging in the recent Kashmir elections, unbridled corruption in government departments and the poor rule of law were the issues that could bring the two groups together.
A close associate of Sharif, Zulfikar Khosa, also told the media in Lahore that there were prospects of the PML-N and the MQM working together in the days to come.
According to officials, the PML-N chief had barred his party leaders from issuing hostile statements against the MQM and Altaf Hussain, an issue that has been keeping both parties away from each other in recent years.
According to the plans, the PML-N would hit the streets with its campaign to dislodge the government immediately after the month of Ramadan that ends early September.
Before that, Iqbal said, the group would complete its lingering reorganisation campaign by the end of next month.
The Express Tribune tried to seek comments from a few MQM leaders but none of them was available.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2011.