ISLAMABAD, March 19: The Pakistan People’s Party has decided to form its own government in Punjab and authorised President Asif Ali Zardari to thrash out a strategy for the purpose, party sources told Dawn.

The decision was taken at a late-night meeting chaired jointly by President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday.

“The meeting expressed full confidence in the leadership of PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and authorised him to take appropriate decisions in the light of the discussions at the meeting,” president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said in a handout issued late in the night.

Surprisingly, four disgruntled members of the CEC -- Sherry Rehman, Aitzaz Ahsan, Dr Safdar Abbasi and Dr Israr Shah -- were not invited to the meeting and because of this the CEC meeting was later declared a consultative meeting of senior leaders of the party.

Analysts believe that the political confrontation between the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League-N will persist and it may escalate on the issue of government formation in Punjab and imposition of governor’s rule.

Sources in PPP said that party leaders had mandated Mr Zardari to take whatever decision he thought beneficial for the party about formation of a government in Punjab.

A series of meetings PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain held with Prime Minister Gilani and President Zardari over the past week, about which no officially announcement has been made, indicate that there is a possibility that the two parties may form a coalition government in Punjab.

Shujaat Hussain will also meet PML-N leaders in a couple of days to discuss with them his proposal for formation of the provincial government comprising the PPP, PML-N and PML-Q.

The consultative meeting was attended by MNA Faryal Talpur, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, federal ministers, senior leaders and the party’s provincial presidents.

The presidential spokesman did not provide details of the meeting and only said: “The meeting resolved to continue its political struggle for democracy, rule of law and emancipation of the people and reiterated to uphold the principles laid down in the Charter of Democracy with renewed vigour and determination under the leadership of Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.”

The meeting lasted four hours. The participants expressed their views on governor’s rule, formation of government in Punjab, restoration of deposed judges, the Charter of Democracy and the process of reconciliation with political forces.

Mr Babar quoted President Zardari as saying in his opening remarks: “We need to take stock of the current situation, understand the challenges ahead and chart out clearly the way forward.”

The president explained the background and rationale of some of the recent political decisions. “Although the participants were aware of the background of these decisions, yet he thought it was important to place them in a clear perspective once again for making informed decisions,” the spokesman said.

Those who expressed their views are: Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Nazar Mohammad Gondal, Dr Babar Awan, Syed Khurshid Shah, Mian Raza Rabbani, Jehangir Badr, Qasim Zia, Afzal Sindhu, Islamuddin Shaikh, Fauzia Wahab, Qazi Sultan, Ch Abdul Majid, Sajjad Bokhari and Farhatullah Babar.

Prime Minister Gilani also addressed the meeting.

The meeting praised the president and the prime minister for restoring the deposed judges in accordance with the party police.

GILANI-SHAHBAZ MEETING: Fauzia Wahab, the new PPP information secretary, said a meeting between Premier Gilani and PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif was expected soon.

At her first press conference, she said: “It was the generosity and open-mindedness of the PPP government that it put away all differences and resolved all issues, although opposition parties left no stone unturned to malign our leadership and try to create differences among us.”

She described as baseless reports that there were differences between Mr Zardari and Mr Gilani. “Diversity of views does not necessarily have to be considered dissent and rebellion. There have been numerous attempts to break the PPP, yet the party has bounced back on every occasion and remains intact at every level,” she added.
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