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December 31, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 02,1430

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LAHORE, Dec 30: Efforts to unite the PML-N and the PML-Q have hit snags reportedly because the latter has decided to explore possibilities of cooperating with the PPP.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Q has indicated its readiness to discuss with the PPP leadership possibility of forming a coalition in Punjab.

At the same time, the PML-N considers the conditions set by the Q-League for merger ‘unrealistic’.

PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi said an “alliance” with the PML-N appeared to be impossible under the present situation.

“The inflexibility of the PML-N leadership is the main hurdle and our party is weighing other options,” he told Dawn on Tuesday.

PPP sources said Governor Salman Taseer would meet the PML-Q leadership this week and offer a package endorsed by President Asif Ali Zardari.

Mr Taseer had met Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Sunday and discussed modalities for a possible alliance in the province.

“The PPP in Punjab has discussed the move for a deal with the Q-League and its forward bloc,” sources said.

“Members of the forward bloc have assured the governor that they will not back out,” they said.

The sources said that formation of a forward bloc in the PML-N could also not be ruled out.According to the sources, the PML-Q has sought from the PML-N the post of the leader of opposition in the National Assembly for Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. It also sought the posts of the party’s central general secretary and provincial chiefs in Punjab and the NWFP after merger.

“How can we accept removal of a senior leader like Zulfikar Ali Khan Khosa (Punjab PML-N president) who has served the party during hard times in the Musharraf era to create a place for a man who ditched the party and enjoyed perks under the umbrella of a dictator,” said a PML-N leader.

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan says there is a strong view in the PML-N that individuals who went with the army dictator after Oct 12, 1999, under coercion or inducement, might be accepted back but a formal merger with the Q-League as a political force would negate the sacrifices rendered by workers. “Even the Chaudhrys of Gujrat may be forgiven and accepted back in the party, but only if they come as individuals and not as a party.”