The proposed merger of Pakistan Peoples' Party Parliamentarians-Patriot with Pakistan Peoples' Party-Sherpao remains a mere dream due to a 'row' over distribution of slots despite passage of almost a year.
Insiders told Business Recorder here on Friday that both sides had no difference of opinion on making Rao Sikandar Iqbal as chairman and Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao as president, but on rest of the slots, they were still poles apart.
The decision to merge PPPP-Patriot with PPP-Sherpao was taken early last year. The Patriot surfaced on the national scene in November 2002, as initially ten PPPP MNAs rebelled and decided to support Mir Zafarullah Jamali to form the coalition government.
President Pervez Musharraf, sources claimed, has fully supported the proposed merger, as besides other reasons, Rao Sikandar has been his college fellow.
Roa Sikandar, who is Defence Minister, claims that more lawmakers from PPPP had contacted him to join the Patriot.
On the other hand, President of PPPP Makhdoom Amin Fahim has said certain members of the Patriot were repenting their decision, but won't be pardoned and taken back in the party fold.
Meanwhile, PPPP sources revealed that erstwhile crow puller and former governor Punjab Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar has been given the task by the party chairperson Ms Benazir Bhutto to play his role in reorganising the party, taking back old party members.
Khar has conveyed to Ms Bhutto that he would not work under anyone except her and prefer to render services to the party as an ordinary member instead of taking dictates from others but her.
"His (Khar's) role in the coming months will be very crucial, because of his good relations with the Pervez Musharraf camp. He can do magic to bring back Ms Bhutto any time," these sources added.
However, so far, he has been facing an inflexible stance of the party chairperson on the question of a sort of working relationship with the present government.
He created ripples on the political scene, when announced to facilitate a working relationship between the government and Ms. Bhutto, following his rare rendezvous with the self-exiled party leader a few months back.
The party leadership back home disowned him, only to welcome him back to the party when Ms Bhutto intervened, declaring Khar a precious asset of PPPP.