ISLAMABAD, May 1: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and ruling Pakistan Muslim (PML) president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Sunday held discussions on the political situation in the country. According to sources, both the leaders met to sort out differences on a number of party and governance matters. Chaudhry Shujaat who had expressed his dismay over cabinet ministers’ indifference towards the party and its workers, discussed the issue with the prime minister.

They also exchanged views on the standoff between Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim and sacked revenue minister Imtiaz Sheikh and agreed to postpone any action on the matter for the time being.

They discussed the ruling coalition’s strategy with regard to the holding of a joint session of parliament for the purpose of presidential address. In view of opposition’s likely protest, they discussed various options to make the event peaceful and successful.

The forthcoming local government polls and the PML strategy to contest them also came under discussion. They also exchanged views on the next general elections and options of alliances with other like-minded parties. The two discussed the ongoing political manoeuvrings, including the behind-the-scene dialogue between General Musharraf’s aides and the PPP Parliamentarians for power sharing and forging an electoral alliance.

Chaudhry Shujaat, who has already ruled out the possibility of entering into an electoral alliance with the PPP Parliamentarians, is taking his political friends into confidence to confront such an eventuality, the sources said.

The deliberations of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan, which is to hold its session on Monday, also figured in the talks. The PML president took the premier into confidence on the steps taken as confidence-building measures in Dera Bugti as follow-up to his meetings with Nawab Akbar Bugti.

He informed Mr Aziz about constitutional complications in the way of the parliamentary committee on Balochistan and discussed steps to tackle them. The also broached the legislative agenda for the National Assembly session starting on Monday.

The prime minister said the government was striving to promote the welfare of workers besides improving the working environment in the country because it believed that a happy and contented workforce was a true asset which could “accelerate the pace of our transition towards economic prosperity”. He referred to various schemes and projects initiated by the government in this connection.

Referring to the just-concluded visit of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, the prime minister expressed the confidence that the revival of yen loan facility would augur well for the economy and that foreign direct investment (FDI) would register an increase in due course.