PM woos Fazl after recent outburst

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday met with Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in an apparent bid to defuse growing tensions in the ruling alliance.

The meeting came a day after the JUI-F chief publicly expressed disappointment at delay on part of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to take into confidence other parties in the Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) about its leaders’ secret meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leaders.

An official statement issued after the meeting said Fazl and his son – Federal Minister for Communication Maulana Asad Mahmood – met with Shehbaz at the PM House in Islamabad and discussed the current political situation of the country.

The statement said both the JUI-F leaders appreciated the strong response of the prime minister and the government to the desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden.

PM Shehbaz lauded Fazl for standing by the government when it took difficult decisions. He said bringing the country out of economic difficulties and signing an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was possible only with the help of the allies.

According to the statement, Fazl also lauded PM Shehbaz for bringing the country out of economic difficulties and putting it back on the road to development.

The official statement mentioned only one meeting but sources revealed that Shehbaz and the Maulana later held another round of talks attended by key PML-N leaders including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Minister for Economic Affairs Ayaz Sadiq, and Minister for Education Rana Tanveer Hussain.

At the second meeting, the two sides not only discussed the Dubai meeting but also the date for the next general elections as well as names for the caretaker setup.

PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz as well as PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and his son, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari converged in Dubai on June 27 to allegedly discuss a host of issues including the date for the next general elections and possible seat adjustments.

Some reports even claimed that the PPP and the PML-N top leaders even reached a consensus on the person they want to see as the caretaker prime minister once the National Assembly is dissolved in August this year.

The JUI-F, which is the third largest party in the ruling coalition had earlier played down the rendezvous but Fazl while talking to some reporters on Sunday noted that the PDM parties wondered why the PML-N had not taken them into confidence so far about the Dubai moot.

“The Dubai talks were not sudden. They were planned. So everyone should have been taken into confidence. The PPP is not a part of the PDM; therefore, we cannot ask them about the Dubai talks,” Fazl, who also heads the PDM, had said.

According to some analysts, the meetings between PM Shehbaz and Fazl hold significance as they aim to maintain cohesion and harmony within the ruling alliance just before the assemblies are about to complete their five-year term.

 They said PM Shehbaz’s proactively approached the JUI-F to address Fazl’s concerns in order to not only nurture a strong and unified government but keep the same momentum during the period for election campaign, given the JUI-F's pivotal role in the coalition and its street power,

Officially, there has been no word on the Dubai huddle yet as the ruling PML-N keep on insisting that it was a private visit. However, Fazl’s reservations have brought the issue back into the limelight.

Earlier on Monday, a spokesperson of the JUI-F, Aslam Ghauri, said the Maulana on Sunday had an off-the-record conversation with journalists, which was reported out of context. The JUI-F spokesperson said not only the JUI-F but the entire PDM is unaware of the talks in Dubai.

 “It is our right to have reservations on not being taken into confidence over Dubai talks,” Ghauri said, adding that extending the term of the assemblies and postponing the election will be a political loss.

The JUI-F spokesperson said that JUI-F was in favour of early elections after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was ousted through a vote of no confidence. He revealed that JUI-F had wanted to topple the PTI government with street power and hold elections afterwards.

“The vote of no-confidence was Asif Ali Zardari’s idea not ours,” Ghauri said, adding that only time will tell which forces were behind the no-confidence motion.