ISLAMABAD: The adage, “Politics is the art of the possible”, proved true on Wednesday when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif refused to meet former president and PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari.

Sources told Dawn that after his Tuesday evening’s hard-hitting speech against the military establishment, Mr Zardari conveyed his desire to the prime minister for a meeting.

According to a source in PML-N, the prime minister initially agreed to meet the former president, but later changed his mind on the advice of members of his cabinet.

Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed told media that “time is not right for such an interaction. The cabinet colleagues suggested to the prime minister to delay the meeting for the time being”.

A PPP leader told Dawn that the prime minister formally conveyed his unavailability as a reason for not meeting the former president. Additional secretary of the prime minister’s office, Fawad Hassan Fawad, drove to Zardari House to convey the message, he said.

Mr Zardari’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar told Dawn: “I had unconfirmed information that a meeting of Zardari Saheb and PM might take place sometime today. But when I came to Zardari House after attending the Senate session, I learnt that no meeting was on the cards.”

Mr Babar said he carried no other details about the proposed meeting.

Talking to Dawn, a senior member of the government said it was a matter of common sense that meeting Asif Zardari at this time meant the government endorsed his remarks against the military establishment.

He agreed that the PPP had supported the government against the PTI-PAT sit-ins and helped “save democracy”, but the “former president has gone too far in his criticism of the military, which as a sitting government we can ill-afford to side with”.

The information minister said since Mr Zardari was heading a national political party and served as head of the state, “he is well aware of the sensitivities and complexities that can emerge after such statements”.

He said politicians had to be careful in their choice of words while referring to the armed forces because people took pride in sacrifices and achievements security institutions had been making in the war against terrorists.

The minister said military officers and jawans had rendered countless sacrifices for making Karachi as well as Sindh peaceful. The apex committee was the best forum to discuss any reservations because raising such issues in front of media would aggravate and worsen the situation, he added.

Mr Rasheed said it was his desire that Mr Zardari, being a senior politician, withdrew his statement as it had hurt sentiments.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2015

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