ISLAMABAD, Sept 2: After Dr Zulfikar Mirza’s resignation as Sindh minister, assembly member and senior vice-president of the provincial chapter of PPP, outspoken party MNA from Lyari Nabil Gabol is likely to regain say in the affairs of his constituency.

Sources in the PPP told Dawn on Friday that PPP Co-Chairman and President Asif Ali Zardari, who had refused to meet Mr Gabol because of his decision to quit the federal cabinet earlier this year, contacted the MNA before leaving for China last week.

Although Mr Gabol had resigned as minister of state for ports and shipping in January citing “personal reasons”, sources close to him said he had actually quit the office to pre-empt President Zardari’s move to get him sacked for allegedly “disobeying him” and violating the party discipline. Mr Gabol was unhappy with “dominant roles” of former home minister Dr Mirza in his constituency and that of former federal minister Babar Ghouri of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the ministry.

Mr Gabol had also opposed the party’s policy on Karachi and expressed such views openly in the media. He had been complaining that he was not consulted by the PPP leadership on important decisions taken to handle the Karachi situation.

The sources said Mr Gabol considered the MQM as an external and Dr Mirza an internal factor which had played a major role in sidelining him.

Some political analysts are of the opinion that the PPP leadership’s decision to launch an operation against criminals in Lyari led to Dr Mirza’s outburst last week against the MQM and Interior Minister Rehman Malik. They believe that since Mr Gabol has supported the government’s decision to launch the operation in Lyari he may regain his position in the party and the leadership will like to see him back in action in the constituency which had earlier become a no-go area for him.

The PPP leadership was unhappy over Mr Gabol’s proactive role in the media and had warned him against appearing in TV talk shows and speaking on matters relating to PPP-MQM relations and the Karachi situation.