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Rangers given go-ahead

January 22nd, 2011 | No Comments

ISLAMABAD – PPPÂ’s senior leadership has opposed military operation in violence-hit Karachi and suggested full-fledged action by Rangers to normalise the situation in the city, it has been learnt reliably.
A meeting of the Core Committee of PPP was held Friday night at the Aiwan-e-Sadr took serious note of the situation in the city. The meeting was presided over by PPP Co-Chairman President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.
According to sources, it was also noted in the meeting that there was a lack of liaison between Interior Minister Rehman and Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza which is badly affecting performance of the government.
The government has decided to launch full-fledged operation against criminals in order to bring situation to normal in Karachi. In the meeting, sources said, some PPP leaders strongly criticised the 10-point agenda, which has been presented by PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif so as to improve countryÂ’s economic situation and said Prime Minister Gilani should not blindly accept everything presented by the Opposition.
According to sources, three federal ministers also blasted Punjab Governor Latif Khosa for visiting the grave of Mian Sharif and said the governor, instead of visiting graves, should apprise the masses of corruption and inefficiency of the Punjab government. The meeting noted that the PPP is pursuing policy of reconciliation while the PML-N was doing everything to thwart this policy of the government.
A PPP leader told the meeting that the MQM were mounting their pressure for holding local bodies polls in Sindh, and the ongoing bloodbath in Karachi would end if holding of elections was announced.
A senior PPP leader was of the view that the government should not adopt policy of confrontation and JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman should be contacted to rejoin the government.
According to Waqt News TV channel, the MQM would also be invited to rejoin the Federal Cabinet.
Abrar Saeed adds: Reiterating to push forward the policy of reconciliation, it was the unanimous view of the central leadership of PPP to take along all the political forces in steering the country out of the prevailing political and economic crises.
The Core Committee of the party took serious notice of the sacking of over 4,000 employees by Karachi Electricity Supply Company (KESC) and constituted a three-member committee comprising Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Syed Khurshid Shah and Advisor to Prime Minister Senator Mian Raza Rabbani to take up the issue with the Government of Sindh.
The party reiterated its commitment to standby the working classes. It recalled the reinstatement of sacked employees in the recent past and said that it would not abandon the labour and the working classes.
The central leaders of the party came up with open debate on host of issues including the response to the 10-point formula given by the PML- N for sprucing up the governance and economic management, relations with the coalition partners, current spate of target killings and the ways and means to bring the port city of Karachi under the rule of law, and a number of matters of national importance.
It was also the consensus view of the party leadership that all the stakeholders should be taken into confidence while taking any crucial decision on Karachi unrest and it was further decided that all the options including deployment of Armed Forces in the port city would be placed before the All Parties Conference on Karachi peace due in Federal Capital on 26th of this month.
It was the unflinching stance of President Zardari that all the stakeholders including MQM and ANP would be taken on board while taking any policy decision regarding Karachi and he was optimistic that peace in the port city would be brought without taking any extreme administrative step.
Both the President and Prime Minister appreciated the 10-point demands put forth for steering the country out of prevailing economic mess and said that they had asked the other political parties in the Parliament to give their suggestions as well, so that a comprehensive national agenda for economic and administrative reformation could be evolved.
It was further decided in the meeting that the government should go about swiftly the revamping process of the state-owned corporations and also take other corrective measures for bringing overall improvement in the national economy.
It was further decided with voice vote that PPP would continue to stay part of the Government of Punjab in pursuance of its policy of reconciliation and would not let the Mian Shahbaz Sharif government destabilised.
The matters relating to the partyÂ’s reorganisation also came under discussion and in this connection party leaders were asked to reinvigorate the party set-up at grassroots level so that the party could show better results in the upcoming local bodies elections across the country.
At the outset of the meeting President Zardari, who is also Co-Chairman of Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party, also briefed the members about his recent visit to UAE and America. He also shared the details of his meeting with President Obama with the participants of the meeting.
Besides President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani, the Core Committee meeting of the party was attended by Syed Nayyar Hussain Bukhari, leader of the House in Senate, Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Minister for Commerce, Chaudhary Ahmad Mukhtar, Minister for Defence, Nazar Mohammed Gondal, Minister for Food & Agriculture, Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Rehman Malik, Interior Minister, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah, Minister for Labour & Manpower, Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Dr Babar Awan, Minister for Law & Justice, Raja Pervaz Ashraf, Minister for Water & Power, Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, Advisor to PM, Senator Jahangir Badar, Senator Faisal Raza Abidi, Rukhsana Bangash, MNA, Fauzia Wahab, MNA, Fauzia Habib, MNA, and Spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar.
Staff Reporter from Karachi adds: Two activists of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were gunned down in yet another incident of target killing in Joria Bazaar, Risala police said on Friday.
The incident took place near a shop situated in Joria Bazaar, when the victims, 50-year-old Haji Fareed, son of Abdul Hafeez; and Saeed, alias Gullo, were sitting there. Suddenly two armed men reached there on motorcycle and opened indiscriminate firing on them; resultantly both sustained to injuries.
Police shifted them to Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) for medical treatment where they breathed their last. With the news of killings spread, scores of MQM workers, leaders and sympathisers gathered in CHK. Tension engulfed the surrounding areas and all shops and market were closed.
SHO Faryad Bhatti said it was the incident of target killing. Haji Fareed was the father of five children and also used to run a grocery shop in the same vicinity and was also a very prominent social worker of the area. Victim Abdul Hafeez was an employee of City District Government (CDGK) and he was unmarried. Both victims were the activists of MQM.
Later, their funeral prayers were offered in Denso Hall. No case was registered till the filing of this report. It is pertinent to mention here that two activists of MQM had been gunned down in the same area four days ago.

Political manoeuvring heats up

December 16th, 2010 | No Comments

ISLAMABAD Â– The political front remained extremely hot in the Federal Capital on Wednesday as the ruling PPP manoeuvred to get support of JUI-F, PML-Q and PML-Q (Likeminded), besides MQM, to save its government from a possible collapse.
The GovernmentÂ’s efforts to bring JUI-F back in coalition bore no fruit, as Maulana Fazlur Rahman remained stuck to his stance of staying out of the Government leaving the ruling camp in disarray.
Syed Khurshid Shah, the chief whip of the ruling Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party along with PresidentÂ’s close aide Qayyum Soomro went to meet Fazl but talks remained inconclusive as the JUI-F did not change its stance. Khursheed invited Fazl for another meeting on December 18.
Â“We welcome political dialogues as it is part of the democratic system but we will not change our decision,Â” said JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman while talking to media person after the meeting. He said that his party was sticking to its decision to part ways with Government and would not take it back.
Sneaking away from the question whether his party had given three-time divorce to the Government, he only shared smile with the media men and said that they had clearly conveyed their decision and it could not be changed.
To another question about dismissal of Azam Swati from his office on violation of discipline, he remarked that it was also violation of discipline when the leadership of coalition partner JUI-F was not taken into confidence about the decision of dismissal.
Â“We were not taken into confidence before the removal of our party minister,Â” he said adding that PM should have consulted the partyÂ’s leadership before taking the decision. He said Azam Swati had followed instructions given by the PM, saying he did not raise the issue before media but took it up with the Supreme Court.
Fazl said that all the political forces were united for the democratic process and his party would not welcome any unconstitutional move in the country.
Later talking to media, Minister for Labour and Manpower Syed Khurshid Shah said Swati was instructed by the Prime Minister to take up the issue inside the Cabinet but he violated the directives.
When asked about PPPÂ’s contacts with other political parties including PML-Q, he said that the dialogue process was part of democracy and it would continue.
He said that they held talks with Maulana to convince him to rejoin the coalition. He said that Maulana had accepted to attend the presidential dinner to be given by President Zardari at the Presidency in honour of the Chinese Prime Minister.
Â“I have also met with Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and discussed the recent political situation,Â” he said, adding that he himself had met Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain thrice.
When asked about dismissal of the two ministers, he commented that the two ministers were sacked as the media wanted to the Government do so, saying the media should also praise the GovernmentÂ’s positive steps.
Later, JUI (F) MNA Laiq Mohammad Khan said that removal of Azam Swati from his office was due to the fact that he had taken a stance to expose corruption in Haj operations.
Addressing a press conference, he said that Azam Swati had brought into the notice of Prime Minister the irregularities in the Haj operations. Azam Swati informed the President and the PM about the corruption by writing letters but no action was taken on it, he said. He said that the Government was also annoyed as Azam Swati had pledged to provide evidence of corruption in the apex court, he added.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has invited Pakistan Muslim League (Likeminded) President Senator Saleem Saifullah Khan for meeting, ostensibly to further the agenda of reconciliatory policy of Pakistan PeopleÂ’s Party.
After getting a strong Â‘noÂ’ from Maulana Fazlur Rehman the need to look for new allies needed even more and the call was made in this backdrop, sources in the government informed The Nation.
The information was later confirmed by Saleem Saifullah Khan after the groupÂ’s informal meeting where he announced the formal meeting of the group in Lahore on Thursday to take a decision on the GovernmentÂ’s initiative to woo them into the ruling coalition.
Sources in Pakistan Muslim League (Likeminded) informed that Saleem Saifullah Khan appreciated the decision of the PM to show door to two federal ministers and assured him that his group would not become part of any move to destabilise the incumbent political dispensation.
The sources further informed that under new arrangements the Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) and PML (Likeminded), the splinter group of the Q-League, could be taken on board in case JUI-F did not come back in the government.
Meanwhile talking to media Central Information Secretary PPP Fouzia Wahab said that they were making efforts to strengthen the democratic institutions and the country could not afford any disturbance at this critical juncture.
To a question she said that they were having good relations with PML-Q as they had supported them in getting Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani elected as unopposed Prime Minister.
She further said that countryÂ’s stability and future of democracy were interlinked and all the democracy loving elements in the Parliament should extend support to the incumbent political dispensation for the better future of democratic institutions in the country.
She once again reiterated her partyÂ’s stance to continue with its policy of reconciliation and taking all stakeholders on board while making policy decisions.
Meanwhile, the departure of JUI-F from the ruling coalition has pushed the PPP leadership to rope in the PML-Q by offering it six ministerial slots in the Federal Cabinet.
Well-placed sources privy to these developments told The Nation on Wednesday that PPP wheeler-dealers were actively busy in talks with the PML-Q leadership in order to finalise the deal. The sources, however, made it clear that the proposed deal would not have any adverse implication for the PPP-PML-N coalition in the Punjab province.
Â“The move is part of PPPÂ’s national reconciliation policy to take all the major political players on board in order to steer the country out of the given situation,Â” the sources said, adding PPP-PML-Q might enter into a formal political alliance during the next general elections.
However, sources within the PML-Q were quite cautious about the PPPÂ’s offered deal, saying the move had to be seen into a broader context after Prime Minister GilaniÂ’s overture to the PML-Q Likeminded Group headed by Senator Salim Saifullah. They viewed the move with scepticism and said that it could be a PPPÂ’s ploy to woo one of the factions to its side by offering the PML-Q six ministerial slots in the Federal Cabinet.
The sources said that the PPPÂ’s offer could be used as a double-edged sword and one did not know which faction of the PML-Q to benefit at the end of the day.
Both the PML-Q factions, one headed by the Senator Ch Shujaat Hussain and other by Senator Salim Saifullah, held series of consultations within their respective parties to deliberate the pros and con of the PPPÂ’s offered deal.
Some sources were of the view that PPP could woo both the factions by offering them these ministerial slots as per their numerical strength in the Parliament.
Interestingly, the PML-N seems least threatened over these developments. Â“We are not worried over these developments as long as PPP remains committed to honour our principled position,Â” PML-N sources said. They were optimistic that PPP leadership would not create problem for the PML-N as main ruling coalition partner in Punjab.
Meanwhile, Fazl held separate meetings with former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmed and PML-Q President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. The interactions were made on the sidelines of Â‘Tahafuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Conference.Â’
Â“We have closed our doors for the government,Â” Shujaat quoted Fazl as saying during a brief chat with media. The JUI-F chief and Qazi Hussain discussed the possibility of reactivating the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal.
On the other hand, a private TV channel while quoting sources reported that Fazlur Rehman has set a two-day deadline for the government to review the decision of removing Azam Swati from the cabinet.
According to sources, the development is a result of flexibility shown by the JUI-FÂ’s chief, as he has asked the government to restore Swati to his lost and issue an apology.

Restored judges don’t need Parliament’s approval: PM

February 16th, 2010 | No Comments

ISLAMABAD Â– Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani was quick in eating his words on Tuesday on judgesÂ’ ratification issue and said that in his MondayÂ’s speech, he did not mean to say that the judges, who were restored through his executive order, required ratification from the Parliament.
He, once again, made it loud and clear that whatever would be the interpretation of the apex court on the judgesÂ’ appointment issue the Government would accept it and implement it in its true letter and spirit.
Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, Premier Gilani said that in his MondayÂ’s address in the Parliament, he did not mean to say that the judges who were restored through his executive order, needed to be approved by the Parliament. However, he said that he tried to say that at the time of restoration of judges, this issue had arose and some legal minds were of the view that in case of restoration of the judges through an executive order, they would be requiring ratification of the Parliament.
He recalled that the decision of restoration of the judges was made at around 12.00 mid-night on March 16, 2009 but he made the decision public at around 6.00 in the morning only because he was having the input of the legal minds in the draft of the executive order for restoration of the judges to avoid legal complexities.
He further said that there was also a proposal that the judges should be restored through passage of a resolution from the Parliament but in his view the executive order was the better option for it and he did it in consultation with the legal experts.
He, once again, said, Â“ The Parliament is the supreme body and it has the right to write and rewrite the Constitution,Â” and quickly added that the Government would accept the decision of the apex court.
He further said, Â“Under the Constitution, President of Pakistan is the authority to appoint judges with consultations of Chief Justice of Pakistan.Â” But the consultation should be meaningful, he said. He added that in this connection the Government had requested the court to further interpret the procedure for appointment of the judges.
He further said if the Parliament, which is the supreme body, wants that a judge should appoint a judge, then they are ready to do it as well.
He said that the Constitutional Reforms Committee of the Parliament was in session and in case they came up with some other mechanism for the appointment of judges then the Parliament had every right to do legislation in this regard.
He, however, made it clear that whatever amendments the Committee would propose, the current vacancies in the apex judiciary would be filled through the existing mechanism.
Earlier, the National Assembly on Tuesday referred four bills, introduced by private members, to the standing committees concerned of the House for further discussions. These bills include Rehabilitation Authority for Victims of Violence and Abuse Bill moved by Mrs. Yasmeen Rehman and Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuhu and Pakistan Citizenship (Amendment) Bill moved by Ms. Bushra Gohar. Dr. Azara Fazal Pechuhu and others moved the HIV/AIDS Safety and Control and Raja Muhammad Asad Khan and others moved the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill before the House.
Minister for Labour and Manpower, Syed Khurshid Shah has said that the Government held the judiciary in high esteem and was bound to implement its verdicts on all issues. Responding a point of order in the National Assembly raised by Ms. Anusha Rehman, he said the PPP was among those, which made efforts for restoration of the judges. Referring to speech of the Prime Minister in the House yesterday, he said that he (PM) had no intention to disgrace the judiciary but he talked about the difficult position, which the Government was facing for their restoration. Later, the House resumed discussion on an adjournment motion regarding construction of Baghliar and Kishan Ganga Dams and Wuller Barrage by India in violation of Indus Basin Water Treaty.
The members of the National Assembly, taking part in the debate on aforesaid issue, urged the Government to take up water issue with India on the international level.
They said that India was violating Indus Basin Water Treaty and was working on a plan to construct dams to utilise Pakistani water that must be stopped. They condemned India for construction of Baghliar Dam and its plans for construction of Kishan Ganga Dam and Wuller Barrage. The members said that Pakistan was facing acute shortage of water and according to the United NationsÂ’ report that per capita water availability has come down from 5500 cubic metres in 1950 to 1000 cubic metres at present. They said that Pakistan was being converted into a desert and the Government should take the notice of the situation and should make efforts to compel India for implementing Indus Basin Water Treaty.
Those who took part in the debate include Ms. Palwasha Khan, Humayun Saifullah Khan, Mir Munawar Talpur, Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Aftab Jilani, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao and Riaz Hussain Pirzada.
Federal Minister for Labour and Chief Whip, Khurshid Shah in response to a point of order gave assurance to the House that women travellersÂ’ respect and honour at security check post in FATA and settled areas would be ensured.
Â“Checking is a routine process but we shall ensure respect of the women,Â” he said. However, he mentioned that in some cases terrorists wear veils to carry out terrorist activities. The Minister proposed to have scanners or deployment of lady security personnel for checking of the women.
Kamran Khan, on a point of order, said in settled areas adjacent to Waziristan, the women were humiliated during checking at police and FC check posts. Â“These personnel should be ordered to maintain respect of the women and alternate security arrangements should also be ensured,Â” he added.
On another point of order, Bushra Gohar pointed out serious irregularities mentioned in the audit report of a USAID funded project executed in FATA during 2008. The member demanded that the audit report in the House should be presented, as she claimed that money allocated for the FATA under certain other projects was not properly spent in the area.
Mahboobullah Khan urged the Government to continue projects of National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and recounted number of projects successfully executed under this programme. Â“The NCHD has got enrolled 8.2 million children between 5-7 years age, at schools in 117 districts, technically trained 13.77 million women in 80 districts, trained 669,000 women for vaccination, trained 327,000 volunteers and trained thousands of the Government employees,Â” he said.
Gul Muhammad Jakhrani demanded to close down the power plant being installed on the Chashma Canal.
Khalida Mansoor demanded of the Government to brief the House about recent population control agreement with UNFPA. Nadeem Afzal Gondal demanded ban on the dowry, saying that millions of poor people in the country could not get their daughters married due to this curse.

NA passes anti-money laundering bill

January 27th, 2010 | No Comments

ISLAMABAD Â– The National Assembly on Wednesday evening passed three bills including Anti-Money Laundering Bill 2009, Competition Bill 2009, and Pakistan Engineering Council (Amendment) Bill 2009.
The National Assembly adopted Anti-Money Laundering Bill 2009 suggesting one to ten years imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 1,000,000 on violation of the law.
Moved by Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Hina Rabbani Khar, the 46-clause bill was adopted with a majority vote thought there was no amendment in any of the reported clauses of the Bill.
Mentioning to objectives of the bill, the Minister of State stated, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Asian Pacific Group which are responsible for monitoring compliance of AML/Combating Financing Terrorism (CFT) regime by member countries, had raised serious reservations on certain provisions of AML Bill 2007.
Â“This required necessary review and changes in the law to bring it in line with international standards,Â” she stated.
She said amendments in AML Bill 2007 were also part of conditionalities under PakistanÂ’s Accelerating Economics Transformation Programme of ADB.
Similarly, she said, in order to meet requirements indicated by internal bodies and lending institutions, the proposed amendments address and broadly provide for AML lawÂ’s applicability in the area of countering financing of terrorism, expansion in the list of predicate offences and modifying the definition of money laundering in line with the internationally accepted standards.
For punishments, the bill provides, whosoever commits offences of money laundering shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than one year but may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to Rs one million and shall also be liable to forfeiture of property involved in the money laundering.
It further provides that the aforesaid fine may extend to Rs five million in case of a company and every director, officer or employee of the company found guilty under this section, shall also be punishable under this section.
Under the bill, the federal government shall constitute a Financial Monitoring Unit that will have independent decisions making authority on day-to-day matters coming within its areas of responsibility.
For the investigating officers, the Act provides that any officer exercising powers under this Act or any rules made thereunder, who, without prior permission of the court Â‘surveys or searches or causes to be surveyed or searched, any building or place; or detains or searches or arrests any person, shall for every such offence be liable, on conviction, for a term which shall may extend to two years or fine which may extend to Rs 50,000 or both.
With the passage of these bills, the total number of bills passed by the House during the current session become eight for which the Chief Whip Syed Khurshid Shah congratulated the political forces for accomplishing this task.
Referring to the Pakistan Engineering Council (Amendment) Bill 2009, Syed Khurshid Shah said that today the political forces had won, as during the previous regime, a dictator had tried his level best but could not succeed in getting the amendment of his choice passed from the Parliament.
He said that it was in a way the victory of Parliament and political forces who had all played their due role in legislation and frustrated the moves of the dictator to subdue the Parliament.
The Anti-Money Laundering Law was aimed at preventing money laundering, countering financing to terrorism and bringing the law in consonance with the internationally accepted standards to check corruption and illegal wrong use of money.
The Competition Law provided for free competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activity to enhance overall economic efficiency in the country. On one hand the Competition Law ensures level playing fields to people in every sphere of economy, while on the other it would protect consumers from monopolies and anti-competitive behaviour.

Zardari, Nawaz agree to democratise Constitution

July 17th, 2009 | No Comments

LAHORE – President Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N Quaid Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif met at latterÂ’s Raiwind residence here on Friday, and reiterated their resolve to purge the Constitution of all undemocratic clauses, including the most controversial 17th Amendment, but fell short of giving a time frame to undo the unconstitutional changes done by the former govt.
In their four-hour long meeting, which took place after a gap of eight months, the two leaders agreed to work together to steer the country out of the current crisis.
The meeting was in pursuance of the telephonic talk between the two leaders on Monday.
In his meeting with PML-N chief, President Asif Ali Zardari was assisted by Raja Pervez Ashraf, Mian Raza Rabbani, Jehangir Badar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Babar Awan, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, Syed Khurshid Shah and Farhatullah Babar.
The other side comprised of PML-N Quaid Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Raja Zafarul Haq, Syed Ghous Ali Shah, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Senator Pervez Rasheed, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Sardar Mehtab Abbasi and Sardar Yaqoob Nasir.
In the 11-point joint declaration issued at the end of meeting, the two parties reiterated that dialogue and discussions was the essence of the democratic process and that the doors to meaningful and result-oriented talks should always remain open.
They reiterated that after the February 2008 elections, installation of democratic govt and getting hold of Presidency by democratic forces, it was necessary to remove the controversial clauses from the Constitution that had been inserted into it by successive dictatorships without the consent of the masses.
The two parties reiterated commitment to the principles laid down in the Charter of Democracy (CoD) to democratise the Constitution and rid it of all undemocratic clauses including 17th Amendment.
They expressed the hope that the Parliamentary Committee set up to review the Constitution would complete its task in the shortest possible time and propose suitable amendments in it.
The two parties expressed the view that the situation in Balochistan needed to be addressed urgently and seriously.
Political dialogue and development of the province should be pressed into service to remove the sense of alienation of the people of the province.
They expressed the view that the Parliament should play a more pro-active role in meeting the aspirations of the people of Balochistan.
Both sides agreed that the problems faced by the country were too stupendous to be resolved by any one political party or State institution and required the collective efforts of all political forces and parties.
The two parties also agreed that militancy posed the most serious threat to national security and that holistic approach was needed to address the issue. They agreed that the terrorists should not be allowed to impose their agenda on the people through guns and bullets.
They agreed that more of such contacts and meetings would help push forward the process of democratisation of the Constitution in the light of CoD and to find solutions to the problems faced by the country particularly national security, economic and energy crisis, price-hike and unemployment compounded by the military dictatorship.
According to insiders, the two leaders discussed several issues in frank and candid manner as overall mood of the meeting was cordial from very start to culmination, though they did express reservations they had about each other on various issues.
Nawaz reportedly told Zardari that his party wanted to go alongwith PPP, but they were prevented from doing so, first by getting them ineligible from contesting elections and then by imposition of GovernorÂ’s Rule.
President Zardari, in turn, assured Nawaz that his party would not create any problem for PML-N in future.
Nawaz assured Zardari that his party would not destabilise PPP govt and allow it to complete its full term.
Earlier, President Asif Ali Zardari was accorded a warm welcome at Lahore Airport and was received by Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Senior minister Raja Riaz and other big wigs of the govt.
Accompanied by CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, Federal Ministers Khurshid Shah, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Nazar Muhammad Gondal, PPP Secretary General Jahangir Badr, President Zardari set off for Raiwind in a helicopter.
Nawaz Sharif alongwith central party leaders, Khawaja Asif, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, Chief Secretary Javed Mehmood and others welcomed him at Jatti Umra helipad.
President Asif Ali Zardari greeted Nawaz Sharif on his acquittal from plane hijacking case. He termed the Supreme Court decision to acquit Nawaz from plane hijacking case as a welcome development, saying it would help strengthening democracy in the country.
From the helipad, President Asif Ali Zardari, PML-N chief Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif used one car to reach SharifsÂ’ residence in Raiwind, as President Zardari invited Sharif brothers to accompany him in his own car.
Meanwhile, before his meeting with President Asif Ali Zardari,Nawaz Sharif held an important meeting with party senior leaders and took them into confidence on different issues. He also sought suggestions from them to be discussed with President Zardari.
During the meeting, all the party stalwarts endorsed his decisions and announced to extend all out support to him.
Raja Zafarul Haq, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khosa, Javed Hashmi, Khawaja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafiq, Pervaiz Rashid, Sardar Yaqoob and other senior leaders attended the meeting. Opposition leader in National Assembly Ch. Nisar Ali Khan and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra joined the meeting through telephone.
Nawaz Sharif also hosted a luncheon reception in the honour of President Asif Ali Zardari and his delegation. Both wearing shalwar kameez and waistcoat talked in a friendly manner and avoided peeping into bitter past. After the lunch they held 4-hour meeting in a happy mood.
The organiser of the meeting announced to make Press briefing to inform the media about the upshot of the meeting but later Press briefing was cancelled without mentioning any reason.