Shehbaz, Zardari discuss strategy to face crises

PML-N trying to whip up numbers in Punjab Assembly for Hamza

LAHORE:

As a confluence of crises continues to test the coalition government, allies and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday got down to brass tacks to survive a volley of political setbacks hitting the young government.

وزیرِ اعظم شہباز شریف سے صدر پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی پارلیمنٹیرئینز و سابق صدر آصف علی زرداری کی لاہور میں ملاقات۔
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— APP 🇵🇰 (@appcsocialmedia) May 21, 2022

In an “unannounced” meeting, PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari – head of one of the three main coalition parties – called on the prime minister to hammer out a strategy to cope with a number of crises, including PTI’s long march, economic woes and the fate of Punjab government following the ECP’s verdict.

The two leaders also discussed a plan to whip up enough numbers in the Punjab Assembly for the embattled chief minister of Punjab, Hamza Shehbaz, and the persistent constitutional crisis in the political heartland.

Federal ministers Rana Sanaullah Khan, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Miftah Ismail and Ahsan Iqbal were also in attendance, while PPP’s delegation included Saleem Mandviwala, Jalal Farooq, Jameel Ahmed and Liaquat Ali.

The growing unease underscores the burgeoning perils facing the PMLN-led dispensation -- an assemblage of main political parties that muscled out Khan from power through a vote of no confidence last month.

Facing louder calls for fresh elections with the PTI chairman poised to take a great leap towards the federal capital to throw the government out of gear, the coalition partners are bracing for a similar state of affairs they staged for the former ruling party.

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‘Grand dialogue’

Meanwhile, former president Zardari and JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman spent the day shuttling between the meetings, holding two meetings in less than 24 hours.

The meetings continued late into the afternoon, sources said, adding that the two heads of the coalition parties discussed at length the challenges the coalition government has been facing since its formation earlier this year.

ملاقات میں سینیئر حکومتی وزراء، پاکستان مسلم لیگ ن کے راہنماؤں اور پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے قائدین کی شرکت۔

ملاقات میں موجودہ ملکی صورتحال پر تفصیلی گفتگو و مشاورت۔
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— APP 🇵🇰 (@appcsocialmedia) May 21, 2022

A lengthy consultation was also held with Prime Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif on the issue.

Similarly, consultations were also held on stabilising the country’s economy, budget preparation and negotiations with the IMF.

The government is also trying to enter into a grand national dialogue, sources added. The development has come at a time when the room for arbitrary action without pacifying the mounting resistance has shrunk for the ruling coalition.