The sources said Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had asked Senator Rabbani to meet the PML-N leader amid reports that the opposition party was planning to lodge protest during the joint sitting against the government's move to reappoint Justice (retd) Syed Deedar Hussain Shah as chairman of the National Accountability Bureau . – File Photo

ISLAMABAD: A delegation of the People's Party, headed by Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Raza Rabbani, met the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, on Saturday to seek the opposition's cooperation during the March 22 address of President Asif Ali Zardari to a joint sitting of both houses of parliament. According to sources, Chaudhry Nisar complained about the recent behaviour of PPP MPAs in Punjab Assembly, but said the PML-N would follow parliamentary traditions and not create any fuss during the joint session.

The PML-N had convened a party meeting in Lahore on March 17 to devise a strategy for the joint session, but it was postponed at the eleventh hour because of the departure of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for London, where former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is under treatment for heart ailment.

Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, a PML-N MNA from Lahore who was present at Saturday's meeting, said the PPP wanted to know the opposition's strategy for the joint sitting.

He said Chaudhry Nisar had told the PPP team that a meeting for chalking out the PML-N's plan would be held on the day of the joint sitting. The PPP leaders also enquired about the health of Nawaz Sharif, he added.

According to a source in the PPP, both sides expressed regrets over incidents that took place in the Sindh and Punjab assemblies last week.

After their ouster from the provincial government, PPP's legislators had disrupted the Punjab Assembly proceedings through noisy protests over PML-N's move to accept members of the Unification Bloc, a breakaway group of PML-Q members.

On the other hand, PPP MPAs in the Sindh Assembly submitted a privilege motion against Chaudhry Nisar for allegedly ridiculing Sindhi culture at a news conference.