ISLAMABAD, March 3: Six days after a formal announcement by the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) to part ways with the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Punjab, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday talked to Nawaz Sharif by telephone and apprised him about the reasons for increasing oil prices, sources in the PML-N told Dawn.

The sources said the prime minister told Mr Sharif that the PPP leadership wanted to convene an all parties' conference in order to come out with a consensus strategy to handle the crises being faced by the nation.

Mr Sharif, the sources said, regretted the failure of the government to implement the 10-point “reforms agenda” given by him in January suggesting measures to improve economy and governance in the country. He said through the agenda, the PML-N had called for devising a mechanism for fixation of oil prices in a way that the fluctuation in the international market did not have a direct affect on the masses.

Mr Gilani, according to an official handout, asked the PML-N chief that the situation in Punjab must be de-linked from the national economic challenges to help create economic opportunities for the people. He said it was the need of the hour to abide by the Constitution and rule of law to strengthen the state institutions.

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