ISLAMABAD, Feb 19: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) continues its wait-and-see policy, in a hope of striking a ‘deal’ with the Musharraf government, and thus all its decisions including a possible electoral alliance or seat adjustment with the PML-N is delayed if not shelved.

Sources in both the parties said they were playing their cards very carefully so that any miscarriage of their decisions did not result in further delay in the announcement of election schedule.

The Musharraf government, according to the sources, was also delaying the amendments, it intended to introduce in the Constitution, with a deliberate effort to keep the political parties guessing.

This caution is more owing to the American administration’s recently pronounced intentions of supervising the electoral process in Pakistan, and also that Musharraf will have to contest elections to remain in power.

When asked to disclose the objective of the ongoing meetings in the country and Dubai, a source close to the PPP said, “There is a status quo as long as a policy change comes about in result of some unseen happenings”. Such meetings, he added, were limited in nature and might end up exchanging Eid greetings.

If there is no ‘deal’, the government was determined not to allow Benazir Bhutto to contest the coming polls come what may, the power brokers had said in clear terms. They had told the senior PPP leaders one by one that the government could reach with them at an accord minus Benazir which resulted in Iftikhar Gilani’s separation from the party, these sources said.

Another senior PPP leader Makhdoom Amin Faheem had rejected such an offer. He is now in Dubai to take fresh instructions from the party chairperson. On the PML-N side too, there is an extra caution exercised in dealing with other like-minded parties on top of them being one time foe the Jamaat-i-Islami.

The dilemma for the Jamaat is that its leadership in the absence of detained Qazi Hussain Ahmed appears bent upon making an alliance with the PML-N at least on seat adjustment basis.

PML-N Chairman Raja Zafarul Haq who has held a number of meetings with top Jamaat leaders as well as chief of his own faction of JUI, Mualana Samiul Haq, is also non committal about the final decision. He told this scribe, “Such meetings were part of political dialogue and so far as the decision of entering in alliance was concerned it would be taken by the party executive.”

He was also evasive when questioned about the possibility of return of Nawaz Sharif to lead the party from prison. Javed Hashmi due to his outbursts has landed in jail.

In the meantime, the PPP top brass meetings one held in Rawalpindi on Sunday, and the other called in Dubai, may concentrate on the contentious questions as to whether the party should go into the polls without Benazir Bhutto’s presence in the country or not.

The self-exiled party chairperson’s return, however, is tagged with a pre-condition that she may be allowed to contest the polls, and NAB cases be wound up against her which is neither acceptable nor the regime is ready to compromise on.

The PPP expects that the government through one amendment would curtail any individual from contesting for the office of the prime minister for the third term, thereby outrightly disqualifying Benazir Bhutto from becoming a candidate.