ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari continued consultations with aides and allies in a bid to repair ties with coalition partners, which were dented by his decision about tabling the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) in parliament.
He met Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F (JUI-F), and Governor Sindh Ishratul Ibad, a senior leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM).
The governor met the president in the day while the JUI-F chief called on him in the night along with a delegation of his party. The Maulana is reported to have been asked to try to bring back to the coalition parliamentarians from Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) who had also opposed the tabling of NRO before parliament.
Sources said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani also attended the meeting along with a number of other leaders of Pakistan Peoples’ Party.
The JUI-F chief, who had earlier in the evening addressed a press conference and said that his party would oppose NRO if it was tabled in parliament, agreed to talk to Fata parliamentarians.
The MQM was the first party in the PPP-led coalition which opposed the NRO. MQM chief Altaf Hussain also urged the president to sacrifice his office in the larger national interest.
According to presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar, the PPP had always defended democracy and would continue to do so in the future.
The spokesman quoted the president as saying: ‘PPP respected the viewpoint of some allied parties not to bring the NRO in the parliament. Our party is determined to protect democracy at any cost and would not let anyone destabilise it.’
Maulana Fazalur Rehman said the JUI-F was an ally of the government and would abide by all agreements between the allies. He praised the PPP and the president for trying to take the allies and coalition partners along with them on all important issues.
President Zardari said a committee comprising PPP and JUI-F members would be constituted to address matters pertaining to the alliance between the two parties.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan will be the convener of the committee.
Other members of the committee are: Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, Rehman Malik and Qamar Zaman Kaira from PPP and Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri, Azam Khan Swati and Senator Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani of JUI. ...... Link
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