The reconciliatory efforts by the government with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) had a mixed response from Nawaz Sharif, as the PML N refused to sit across the negotiating table with PPP unless the February 25 actions are reversed.
"The reversal of February 25 actions will be the first condition for reconciliation with the government," said a senior leader of the PML (N) after the ANP president Asfandyar Wali Khan and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rahman met the PML (N) Quaid Nawaz Sharif here on Wednesday.
"Supreme Court verdict will have to be reversed. Punjab government will have to be restored with Shahbaz Sharif as Chief Minister," said the leader pleading anonymity. Asfandyar Wali Khan and Maulana Fazlur Rehman conveyed President Asif Ali Zardari's desire for reconciliation to the PML (N) Quaid. PML-N senior leaders Ishaq Dar, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Khawaja Muhammad Asif and Ahsan Iqbal were also present during the meeting.
During the meeting that lasted around two hours, ANP and JUI-F heads tried to convince Sharif to broker reconciliation with the government in larger interest of the country. Sources said that the two parties' heads kept on insisting former premier to find a way out of the current political crisis, as ongoing confrontation between major political parties could prove extremely dangerous for democracy.
However, sources said the PML-N remained adamant that it was not ready for reconciliation unless the pre-February 25 position is restored. President Zardari takes a practical step to reinstate deposed judges including Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
"You can't invite some one for reconciliation after twisting his arm," one of the participants of the meeting from PML (N) said. He said the ANP and JUI-F chiefs had assured the PML-N leadership to convey their concerns to President Zardari and they will also try to find a way out to remove all the differences between the two major parties.
Asfandyar Wali and Maulana Fazlur Rehman said they were quite hopeful that the tension between the PPP and PML-N would be defused in next few days. The ANP president said he viewed that disqualification of Sharif brothers was a political decision. The Supreme Court should not have come up with a political decision, he said.
But at the same time, he urged that it was a time for national reconciliation. "Today we came here to know that whether there was any way for reconciliation," he added. We are satisfied after the meeting with Nawaz Sharif in this regard but declined to go into details of the meeting.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman said he met President Zardari two days ago and found some space to initiate reconciliation drive between PPP and PML (N). He said progress had been made during the meeting, as Sharif has given some suggestions to move forward. He said that differences are part of politics but they must remain within positive parameters for the benefit of country.
He said the country was already passing through critical times, therefore, it could not afford political confrontation in Punjab. He said he was happy over co-operation from the PML-N, adding Nawaz Sharif is interested in reconciliation.
PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif did not speak much on the occasion and told reporters that he has expressed his views to the two leaders. He said ANP and JUI-F had started the journey together with the PML-N, and they have also conveyed their concern on the prevailing situation.