Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday agreed to resolve all issues together, a private TV channel reported.
The PPP co-chairman held a telephonic conversation with the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) head wherein the two leaders discussed the political situation in the country. According to reports, Fazl told the former president that the matter of Senate opposition leader candidate being from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was decided at an earlier meeting of the PDM, hence, all the PDM parties should respect the joint decision. The PDM chief reportedly said that according to a joint decision, the seat of the leader of the opposition in the Senate belongs to the PML-N. He hoped that the PPP would respect the joint decisions of the PDM.
On March 21, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz had made it clear that the opposition leader in Senate would be from her party as it was decided ‘in principle’ at the PDM huddle ahead of elections for chairman and deputy chairman of the upper house. Addressing a news conference following a meeting with JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at Jati Umra in Lahore, she had said when the leaders of the 11-party alliance met at Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s residence, they had decided to support Yousuf Raza Gilani for the Senate chairman, JUI-F’s Abdul Ghafoor Haideri for deputy chairman, and a PML-N candidate for the leader of the opposition slots. “Winning or losing [Senate chairman poll] was not discussed as a factor for any change in the decision,” she had maintained, further reinforcing reports of rifts within the anti-government alliance.
The largest opposition party is reportedly considering the names of Azam Nazeer Tarar and Sadia Abbasi for the position. The PDM appears to be in tatters because of serious differences on the issue of en masse resignations from assemblies, that has also forced it to postpone the scheduled long march against the government.
