Key capitals want PML-N to rejoin federal cabinet

[Naveed Yaseen]

By Ansar Abbasi
ISLAMABAD: Some leading world capitals, evincing a keen interest in reshaping Pakistan’s political scene, want the PML-N to rejoin the federal cabinet and take over key economic ministries.

Diplomatic sources confided to The News on Tuesday that the PPP government at the Centre had been asked by influential capitals to invite the PML-N to rejoin the federal cabinet and take over ministries like Finance, Commerce, Planning and Development, Petroleum, etc.

According to the sources, the Interior Ministry may also be offered to the PML-N as the countryís establishment is not comfortable with the present arrangement, as far as this particular portfolio is concerned.

The re-induction of the PML-N into the federal cabinet, the sources argued, would serve as a comparatively dependable check on the present dispensation that lacked credibility and seriousness required for dealing with the challenges facing the nation.

By April 30, the sources revealed, some key international players were desirous of getting the PML-N back into the federal cabinet, which would be an encouraging indication for the Friends of Pakistan to offer financial assistance to the country. The irony is that the present Pakistani leadership is not trusted internationally even by Pakistanís friends.

Particularly after the restoration of the Shahbaz Sharif government in the Punjab by the Supreme Court, though it is not yet clear how the two leading political parties would reposition their strategies, the diplomatic sources insisted that both sides were pressed to form coalition governments both at the Centre and in the Punjab.

Of late, President Asif Ali Zardari said the PPP members would sit on the opposition benches in the Punjab but would not let the PML-N government fall. After the restoration of the Shahbaz Sharif government, the PPP clearly seemed doubleminded.

Most of its leaders, including Nabeel Gabol, Fauzia Wahab and Raja Riaz, while welcoming the Supreme Court decision, said that the restoration of the Punjab government had also restored the PPP ministers as was the situation on February 25.

Now the PPP is looking to President Asif Ali Zardari for a decision on whether the PPP ministers should quit the cabinet or continue with the pre-February 25 status.On the other side, despite their patchy background, the PML-N leaders are also aspiring for a working relationship with the PPP. Soon after the restoration of his government, Shahbaz Sharif said that his party was in contact with the PPP for their future relationship. He added that it was for the PPP to decide whether or not it would join his cabinet.

At the federal level, the PPP has always been desirous of keeping the PML-N in the cabinet but it could not happen because of differences between the two on the issue of the judgesí restoration. With that tiff resolved, the PML-N would be soft towards President Zardari. PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif has also talked of reconciliation with the PPP but has said in one of his press statements that his party would not rejoin the federal cabinet.

The sources, however, said that the federal government had also been asked by international players to settle issues like the Charter of Democracy (CoD) so that the coalition between the PPP and the PML-N could become sustainable.

The PML-N is now focused on the implementation of the CoD that primarily includes the undoing of the 17th Amendment involving the slashing of the presidentís authority to remove the government and make key appointments.

The diplomatic sources explained that the US and other countries in the ìFriends of Pakistanî would offer respective financial and economic development assistance packages to Pakistan only if a stable coalition government — presenting the outlook of a national government in Pakistan — was ensured. This point has been explained to those ruling Pakistan today.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=21260