Nawaz mediates: Party stalwart Khosa patches up with PML-N

PML-N chief rejects resignation after senior leader reconciles with Shahbaz.

LAHORE:

After a longstanding stalemate, Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N)’s President Nawaz Sharif successfully reconciled senior party leader Senator Sardar Zulfiqar Khan Khosa and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday.

Staying cautious about the patch-up, the party has appointed Leader of the Opposition in the NA, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan as a mediator between Khosa and the younger Sharif in case tensions rise again, sources told The Express Tribune.

Nisar and MNA Rana Tanveer visited Khosa’s residence on Friday night as a reconciliatory gesture. Later, Khosa visited Nawaz at Raiwind on the latter’s invitation. PML-N’s General Secretary Raja Ashfaq Sarwar confirmed while talking to the media that Khosa has reconciled with the party leadership.

Last month, Khosa resigned from his post as senior advisor to the Punjab government after developing differences with the Punjab chief minister. His son, MPA Dost Muhammad Khan Khosa, had also tendered his resignation.

According to insiders, Nawaz Sharif has arranged for the elder Khosa to meet with Shahbaz in the presence of Nisar and Tanveer at Raiwind. On Khosa’s request, Nawaz refrained from inviting Senator Pervez Rashid, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Khawaja Asif and certain bureaucrats all known for their close connections with the provincial chief minister, the sources added.

Three weeks ago, Khosa wrote a scathing letter to Shahbaz complaining of ‘misbehaviour’ committed by the minister and his close political aides towards his family. The letter was discussed in Nawaz’s meeting with Khosa, where both Khosa’s and Shahbaz’s position were clarified.

Nawaz also requested Khosa and Nisar to hold monthly meetings in his presence.

Meanwhile, PML-N General Secretary Sarwar told the media that the two discussed all their misunderstandings, after which Khosa told Nawaz that he ‘will always be a Muslim Leaguer’. Sarwar added that Nawaz did not accept Khosa’s resignation from the post of senior advisor.

Speaking on the younger Khosa’s resignation, Sarwar said that since he was Zulfiqar’s son, he was like ‘a brother’ to them, adding, “Sardar sahib is a much respected person for us, he is our elder.”

Upon being asked why ‘the elder’ was forced to come to Raiwind as opposed to Sharif visiting him at his residence, Sarwar said, “No he was not forced…. He came of his own free will.”

Khosa’s other son, MPA Hissamuddin Khosa, while talking to The Express Tribune, said that they were bound to follow their father’s decision.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2012.