PPP makes bid to woo back Fazl

Zardari meets Fazlur Rehman who had come to attend a dinner reception the President hosted for Wen Jiabao.

ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party made yet another bid – this time at the highest level – to woo back its estranged former coalition partner Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) as President Asif Ali Zardari held a meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday who had come to attend a dinner reception the President hosted for visiting Chinese premier.

JUI-F’s leader Hafiz Haleem told The Express Tribune that the president pressed Fazl not to sit on opposition benches and promised their party some more ministries, including the ministry of religious affairs, but the latter rejected the offer.

However, no PPP leader was available to comment on the claim. PPP is already having strained relations with another key ally, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), as the war of words between the two parties continues.

In this fragile political situation, it was some consolation for the ruling party that both allies and foes attended the president’s banquet hosted in honour of the Chinese prime minister.

The chief of the biggest opposition party (PML-N) Mian Nawaz Sharif attended the dinner more than a year after he visited the Presidency to meet President Zardari. Leaders of PML-Q, MQM, JUI-F, ANP and other smaller groups also shared the dinner table.

President Zardari had earlier in the day sent Rehman Malik to JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman whose spokesperson told the media that the meeting failed to yield any tangible results. Maulana Amjad of JUI-F said his party was likely to apply the Speaker National Assembly to allocate its members seats on opposition benches.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19^th, 2010.