ISLAMABAD, Jan 26: The fourth round of talks between the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on the issue of holding a multi-party conference, proposed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, will be held here on Saturday evening, sources in the two parties told Dawn on Friday.
Earlier, this meeting was scheduled for Wednesday but was postponed as the PPP President Makhdoom Amin Fahim had to leave for Dubai. Mr Fahim has now come back.
Mr Sharif is willing to hold an MPC in London next month to formulate a joint strategy regarding the forthcoming elections. However, the PPP leaders expressed their displeasure over what they termed was a unilateral move. They were of the view that the proposed meeting should be convened under the banner of the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD).
The PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto is reluctant to attend the MPC due to the religious parties’ participation in it. The PPP, sources said, also believed that the MPC was being convened before time and it should be held once the government comes out with its plan for President Gen Musharraf's re-election.
The PPP leaders are not ready to give an assurance to the PML-N that Ms Bhutto would attend the proposed MPC.
In the last meeting, held on Jan 22, the PML-N had accepted the PPP’s demand to delay the MPC, but only for a few weeks. The PML-N leaders said they had agreed to delay the MPC only to ensure Ms Bhutto's participation in it.
Meanwhile, a senior leader and office-bearer of the PML-N on Friday criticized the PPP for holding a meeting with the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) without taking his party into confidence. The PML-N leader, who did not want to be identified, said on one hand, the PPP talked about strengthening of the ARD and wanted the MPC on the alliance platform, while on the other, it did not even bother to consult its alliance partner before meeting the CEC. He said they would take up the issue with the PPP leaders in the Saturday's meeting.
Another senior PML-N leader, on condition of anonymity, alleged that the PPP was damaging the cause of opposition parties by using delaying tactics in holding the MPC. He also criticized the statement of the MMA President Qazi Hussain Ahmed in which he stated that the MMA would not take part in any MPC, hosted by other than the PML-N.
