Nawaz, Gilani agree to pool resources

After weeks of bickering between their two parties, both sides agreed to a meeting on flood relief.

After weeks of bickering between their two parties, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and his two-time predecessor Nawaz Sharif spoke to each other over the phone on Thursday night and agreed to pool resources for flood relief activities.

According to a handout statement issued by Gilani’s media office, the PML-N chief told the premier that he wants to share some suggestions with him on how to take forward rescue and relief operations across Pakistan. Neither the handout nor the officials of the PML-N who talked to The Express Tribune specifically mentioned what Sharif would be sharing with Gilani.

But both sides said there is a meeting expected between the two on Sunday.

Nawaz and his younger brother Shahbaz Sharif, the chief minister of worst-hit Punjab province, have been critical of the central government’s handling of the heaviest floods in history.

Shahbaz has been seeking more financial resources to help rehabilitate the flood victims. All these issues, an official of the PML-N party said, might come up at the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2010.