Zardari to meet Sharif to discuss future of ruling coalition

Islamabad, Aug 4 (PTI) P.P.P. chairman Asif Ali Zardari
will hold a crucial meeting this week with his ally P.M.L.-N.
chief Nawaz Sharif that could decide the future of Pakistan's
ruling coalition, which is under strain over its failure to
reinstate judges deposed by President Pervez Musharraf.

Zardari and Sharif will meet here August 5 against the
backdrop of serious concerns expressed by P.M.L.-N. leaders
about the future of the nearly five-month-old alliance.

Reports have also suggested that the Pakistan People's
Party has initiated back channel contacts with the opposition
P.M.L.-Q. on forming an alliance in case the P.M.L.-N. pulls
out of the coalition.

Senior P.M.L.-N. leader Khwaja Asif, a close aide of
Sharif, told reporters Saturday that his party was "finding it
difficult" to stay in the coalition. However, he also
acknowledged that quitting the alliance could make matters
worse.

Asif described the coalition's status as "grim" and said
there is a limit on how long the P.M.L.-N. could put up with
the current state of affairs. Pakistan is facing a threat of
Talibanisation and the P.P.P. is "aggravating matters" by
denying the deposed judges their due role, he said.

It was unfortunate that the P.M.L.-N. was caught between
a rock and a hard place on the issue of solidarity of the
coalition and fighting the militancy that is threatening
Pakistan, Asif said.

Meanwhile, the P.M.L.-N. has convened a joint meeting of
its central working committee and parliamentary party in
Lahore Monday to discuss the prevailing political situation
and the party's future line of action. The meeting will be
chairesd by Sharif.

P.M.L.-N. sources said the restoration of the deposed
judges and the impeachment of President Musharraf would be
discussed at the meeting. The meeting will also decide the
stand to be adopted by Sharif during his upcoming parleys with
Zardari, they said.

Sharif had recently said that he intended to hold a
"final" round of talks with Zardari on the reinstatement of
the judges and the impeachment of Musharraf. However, he did
not specify what he planned to do if Zardari did not accede to
the P.M.L.-N.'s long-standing demand to act on these issues.

However, observers believe it is becoming increasingly
difficult for the P.M.L.-N. to remain in the coalition while
the P.P.P. keeps putting off action on these two crucial
issues that formed a key part of its election campaign. Many
senior P.M.L.-N. leaders also feel that the P.P.P. is
resorting to delaying tactics on the restoration of judges.

P.M.L.-N. leaders are also concerned about the reports of
the back channel contacts between the P.P.P. and the P.M.L.-Q.
as well as the Presidency.

The P.M.L.-N. pulled its ministers out of the P.P.P.-led
government in May after the coalition failed to meet two
self-imposed deadlines to reinstate the dozens of judges who
were sacked by Musharraf last year for not endorsing his
emergency rule.

The party has refused to rejoin the cabinet till the
judges are restored to their positions through a parliamentary
resolution. However, the P.P.P. has linked the reinstatement
of the judges to a package of constitutional reforms. PTI RHL