October 25, 2006	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 24: Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif is planning to convene party meetings in London in the next few weeks to discuss and finalise future strategy for the next general elections, sources in the party told Dawn on Tuesday.

The sources said Mr Sharif wanted to first convene a meeting of the party legislators, followed by meetings of all the office- bearers and members of the Central Working Committee (CWC).

They said Mr Sharif would discuss the policy regarding award of party tickets to possible candidates for the next elections and seat adjustments with other opposition parties, including the PPP.

They said Mr Sharif would also take his party into confidence about his meeting with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Benazir Bhutto and seek their opinion to formulate the future policy. They said the PML-N leaders would also discuss various options for launching of anti-government movement in near future.

According to the sources, there was disappointment in some ranks of the opposition parties, particularly in the PML-N, for the failure of the two leaders to announce launching of anti- government movement in their recent meeting. They said the PML-N would also look into the options of launching the movement alone if it did not get the support from the PPP or the MMA.

PML-N secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, when contacted in London, said the issue of anti-government movement did come up during the October 19 meeting between Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif, but no plan was finalised by the two leaders. He, however, said that his party was in favour of the formation of a grand opposition alliance as the present regime could not be ousted without it.

He said the PML-N would continue its efforts towards formation of a grand opposition alliance. He expressed the hope that the PML-N would succeed in bringing the PPP and the MMA closer, which would be helpful in the formation of a grand alliance.

Mr Jhagra admitted that the government had succeeded in dividing the opposition to some extent, but Nawaz-Benazir meeting would help repair the damage caused by the malicious propaganda drive of the regime. The PPP, he said, had also assured them that it would not make any compromise on principles.

Mr Jhagra, who is also the secretary-general of the ARD, said the main focus of the Nawaz-Benazir meeting was the strategy for the next year’s general elections.

When asked why Mr Sharif and Ms Bhutto did not make any concrete decision in their meeting, he said it was true that the two leaders made no particular announcement after the meeting, but they expressed their resolve to return to the country before the next general elections.