PML-N leader and former information minister Pervez Rashid on Friday said that the party would consider supporting PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan for the post of president "if he visits Adiala jail and apologises to Nawaz Sharif for his remarks".

Rashid, who did not specify which remarks by Ahsan he was referring to, was talking to reporters outside Adiala jail where Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam are currently serving the sentences handed to them by an accountability court.

When asked whether the PML-N would support Ahsan in the upcoming presidential elections, he said that the party has been consulting with other opposition parties and wants to field a joint candidate.

Cracks in the alliance of opposition parties have further widened following PPP's unilateral decision to nominate legal wizard Ahsan as its candidate for the post of president of the country.

PML-N, soon after PPP's announcement, had categorically stated that Ahsan could not be considered a joint opposition candidate as the latter had not consulted any of the parties sitting on the opposition benches before making the decision.

The PML-N is also angry because the PPP refused to vote for its president Shahbaz Sharif in the Aug 17 election for the office of prime minister only because of his controversial statements against the PPP leadership in the past, whereas the PPP has now nominated a person who had also made some unbecoming remarks about the illness of Nawaz Sharif and his wife Kulsoom Nawaz in recent past.

The PML-N has yet to announce a candidate for the presidential election. To reach a consensus on a joint candidate, the opposition parties are expected to meet after Eidul Azha.

The ruling coalition, led by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, has named MNA from Karachi Dr Arif Alvi as its candidate.