August 26, 2008	Tuesday	Sha'aban 23, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 25: The PML-N is reported to have decided to formally establish contacts with the PML-Q to save its government in Punjab and give a tough time to the PPP in the National Assembly.

“Yes, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has been given a green signal to approach the PLM-Q leadership for reconciliation and to formulate a joint strategy against the PPP,” a PML-N leader privy to the development told Dawn from Islamabad.

Uncertain about their future after the resignation of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, a number of PML-Q legislators have been pressing their leadership for some time to join hands with the Sharifs because they are not interested in working with the PPP in Punjab or at the centre.

Sources said that PML-Q leadership’s assault on the Sharifs during the Musharraf days had made it difficult for the latter to initiate reconciliation efforts. But the change of heart came after Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif told party members at a recent meeting in Raiwind that relying only on the PML-Q forward bloc to save his government would be a folly.

The PML-N has 171 members in the Punjab assembly. The PPP has 107 members, PML-Functional three and the JUP two. For a simple majority, the PML-N requires the support of at least 186 in the 371-member house.

He said that although ‘back channel’ contacts with the PML-Q had been launched some time ago, some PML-N leaders had been opposing the inclusion of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and his cousin Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi in the reconciliation process.

“Digesting harsh statements of Chaudhry Pervaiz is very difficult for the Sharifs, but in the larger interest of the party they have agreed to find a face-saving formula to accept him back in the fold.”

As a result of the contacts (made through Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Makhdoom Javed Hashmi), Chaudhry Pervaiz, who is Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly and has been wary of the PML-N’s efforts to make dents in the PML-Q, has agreed to avoid going all-out against the Sharifs.

Some PML-Q legislators requesting anonymity said that most of the party legislators from Punjab were in favour of unifying with the PML-N and that they had made the Chaudhrys realise that any further indecision would result in half of the PML-Q members joining the PPP and the rest the PML-N.