KARACHI – The ruling PPP is quite determined that it could win back its estranged allies.
In this respect, a delegation of PPP leaders, headed by Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani, met with Awami National Party Sindh chapter chief, Senator Shahi Syed, at his residence, Mardan House, on Sunday and tried to persuade him to rejoin the provincial government.
The delegates, notably Sindh Law Minster Muhammad Ayaz Soomro, Waqar Mehdi and Rashid Rabbani, conveyed to the ANP provincial chief a message from President Asif Ali Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah.
In protest over PPP’s promulgating the controversial local government law 2012, the ANP along with other coalition partners of the PPP, including the PML-F, NPP and a faction of the PML-Q, resigned from the ministries and quit the provincial government.
The ANP has only two members in the Sindh Assembly, while one of them, Amir Nawab, was serving as minister for the Labour Department.
The governor did not accept the resignation of the ANP’s minister. However, the speaker in the last Sindh Assembly session allotted a separate seat to the other ANP legislator, namely Amanullah Mehsood.
After their meeting with Shahi Syed, PPP leaders and Sindh Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durani told the media that they had requested the ANP leader to rejoin the Sindh government.
Durrani claimed that they listened to reservations of the ally party over the recently-passed Sindh People’s Local Government Act 2012.
He said the ANP would give its reservations in written that would be addressed in due course of time. He hoped that the ANP would soon join the Sindh government and the PPP would take part in the next general elections along with its allies.
To a question, Durrani said the ANP had shown its willingness to rejoin the government.
He said they also contacted other estranged allies, but they were avoiding talks.
He said that Pir Pagara was on a visit to London, and his party, PML-F, would contact him to persuade him to rejoin the government.
To another question, Durani said the PPP was ready for talks with the nationalist parties on the local government law, as “we want to incorporate their justifiable suggestions”.
ANP Sindh chief Shahi Syed, while talking to the media, said the ruling party had assured him of the redress of their reservations. Asked about rejoining, Shahi said that the party would sit and take decision in this regard.