LAHORE -  Veteran politician and estranged PML-N leader Sardar Zulfiqar Khosa is seriously considering the option of joining the PPP on the invitation of Asif Ali Zardari who went to his Gulberg residence late Tuesday night with a formal invitation to join his party.

Talking to the media after the meeting, the two leaders expressed their gratitude for each other dropping strong hints of working together on the political front.

Zulfiqar Khosa thanked Zardari for inviting him to join the PPP but fell short of accepting the offer. “I have sought time for consultation with close aides but surely I will not disappoint Asif Ali Zardari whatever decision I make,” he said, giving an indication of his possible choice for the PPP.

“We share common values and traditions and hopefully we will work together for country’s betterment”, Khosa further stated.

Zardari in turn reciprocated by stating that he would offer Zulfiqar sahib whatever he asked for in the PPP.

He also expressed his desire to work jointly with Zulfiqar Khosa to steer the country out of the present quagmire of problems.

Replying to a question, Zardari rejected the idea of formation of a national government which may be put in place after dismantling the PML-N government.

He said he would try his best that next general elections are held at their scheduled time in 2018.

He said Musharraf had also formed a national government in 2002 but it failed to achieve the desired results.

Zardari said that the present government had incurred a great loss to the country, and a lot needed to be done to make up for this damage. “But it will not be any easy task”, he added.

Answering another question, Asif said that he was not trying to dismantle the PML-N as it was already on the verge of collapse.

He said he had extended cooperation to the PML-N in the past just for the sake of democracy and not get any permit to set up factories.

The PPP leader further stated that he wanted to defeat the PML-N in the upcoming Senate elections.

Talking to the provincial ticket holders at Bilawal House earlier in the day, Zardari said Nawaz Sharif is playing a dangerous game which may land the country into political crisis any time.

The former president warned Nawaz Sharif that the outcome of his war with the institutions will be disastrous. He also expressed concern over what he called the deteriorating situation of the country’s economy.

“The state of the economy is far behind where we had left it in 2013,” said Zardari, advising the PML-N leaders to focus on betterment of the people rather than fighting with the institutions.

PPP senior leaders Raja Parvez Ashraf, Ch Manzoor and Azizur Rehman Chun were present on the occasion.

Zardari criticised Punjab government’s hefty expenditures on public projects in Lahore and said the PML-N was focusing on the provincial metropolis only to save its politics.

He said that the politics of PML-N was centred around central Punjab but the Nawaz party was now also losing ground in the entire province.

Zardari also came down hard on the PTI Chairman,stating that Imran’s only agenda in politics was to become a Prime Minister by any means.

He said that PTI had lost its national credentials as it had confined itself only to the KPK province.

Declaring the PPP will defeat both the PML-N and PTI in Punjab and KPK in the next elections, he asked the party leaders and workers to get ready for the next elections.

PPP leaders who attended the meeting suggested their party chief to form a Committee which will chose strong candidates for the next elections for Lahore and other districts of Punjab.