ISLAMABAD: Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has reached Islamabad, and he would stay in the federal capital until the upcoming Senate election on March 3rd, it is learnt.

According to a source, during his stay in Islamabad, the former president will consult with the party leaders about the election of the Upper House of the Parliament, and will finalise strategy for the Senate polls.

They said that Zardari was expected to hold a meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the leadership of the opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

Sources said that the PPP co-chairman had high hopes about the success of Yousaf Raza Gillani in the Senate election. Zardari will undergo various medical tests during his stay in Islamabad, they said.

When contacted, PPP Secretary General Farhatullah Babar confirmed about the stay of Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad. Gilani has been fielded as a joint candidate of the PDM, and his candidature was endorsed by both PPP’s Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

According to the sources, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has succeeded in persuading Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman over bringing a no-confidence motion against the prime minister, in case of Yousuf Raza Gilani’s victory on the Senate seat from Islamabad.

The sources said that the PPP chairman discussed the matter of no-confidence motion against the prime minister in meeting with Maulana Fazlur Rehman along with his a delegation on Sunday in Islamabad.

They said that Bilawal Bhutto and Maulana Fazlur Rehman agreed that in the case of Yousuf Raza Gilani’s victory on the Senate seat from Islamabad, they would bring a no-confidence motion against the prime minister in the National Assembly.

“A final consultation in this regard will be done after the success of the PDM’s candidate Yousuf Raza Gilani,” they said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021