LAHORE, Sept 3: Ghulam Mustafa Khar may announce joining the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) any time soon after his likely meeting with Mian Nawaz Sharif in London.

“I do not rule out the possibility of joining the PML-N,” Mr Khar, who has been coming in and going out of Pakistan People’s Party since joining politics in the early 1960s, told Dawn on Monday by telephone.

A private television channel had reported earlier that PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto had invited Mr Khar, who served in her first government (1988-90) as federal minister for water and power and as Punjab’s chief minister and governor in her father’s government, for consultation.

“I have not received any invitation from Ms Bhutto. I’m going to London on Wednesday (tomorrow) for medical check-up and meet Mian Nawaz Sharif. However, if I’m invited by Ms Bhutto during my stay there for a meeting I would definitely see her,” he said.

Mr Khar has been opposing Ms Bhutto’s decision to negotiate with President Gen Pervez Musharraf for a power-sharing deal, urging her not to talk to the military dictator and return home with Mian Nawaz Sharif to lead the country to full democracy.

PPP secretary-general Jehangir Badar had recently stated at a function that the party had expelled Mr Khar for criticizing its leadership and he no longer had anything to do with the PPP.

In answer to a question, Khar said the country’s politics had undergone a huge transformation after Ms Bhutto’s willingness to talk to Gen Musharraf.

“If you had asked me the question as to my intention of joining the PML-N six months back, my answer would have been different. But now that Ms Bhutto and her party have entered the final round of talks with Gen Musharraf for the power-sharing deal, I should not rule out the possibility of joining the PML-N,” he said.