(Pakistan Times) Sensing an opportunity to gain significant ground in south Punjab and upper Sindh, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Nawaz Sharif is likely to offer former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi a “key slot” in his party when the two meet this week.
A PML-N insider told The Express Tribune on Sunday that Nawaz Sharif and other key leaders of the main opposition party were “desperate” for an opening in the remote southern parts of Punjab and upper Sindh and they believed that Qureshi was their best bet.
“Mian Sahib and the people he trusts have realised that an opportunity has come their way in the person of Qureshi … it looks like they will go to any lengths to grab it,” he said.
It is not clear what position Sharif would offer Qureshi. The PML-N is due to choose new office bearers for its Punjab chapter in a couple of weeks.
Qureshi belongs to Multan district in south Punjab, the so-called ‘Seraiki belt’ where the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has long overshadowed the PML-N. He quit both the PPP and his National Assembly seat a week ago, citing differences he had with President Asif Zardari earlier this year.
The former foreign minister is being wooed by both the PML-N and Imran Khan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). But while Sharif is to meet directly with Qureshi on November 22, Khan is not scheduled to meet him before the former minister announces his political future at a public rally in Ghotki, Sindh, on November 27.
With Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan claiming that former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would announce that he is joining the PTI at a public meeting on November 27 in Ghotki, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif is going all out to keep Qureshi away from the PTI and mutual friends are being pushed to attract him to the PML-N, Pakistan Today learnt on Friday. Khan recently said in a talk show that Qureshi would be announcing his decision to join the PTI at the public meeting in Ghotki.
Interestingly, Qureshi has opted to remain silent over his future ambitions and with the date of his Ghotki public meeting approaching, he has left for Dubai to keep analysts guessing. “Qureshi is an old friend. We haven’t met as yet but we’ve spoken over the phone and will meet very soon,” Sharif had told reporters at Sukkur airport on Thursday. PML-N sources claim that the meeting will be held on November 22, however no one was ready to confirm the meeting on the record. A PML-N source told Pakistan Today that his party chief thought Qureshi joining the PTI would give a huge boost to Imran Khan’s party, which would further dent the diminishing popularity of the PML-N and the only way to stop Qureshi was to use personal contacts. However, the source said further that there were irritants in Qureshi’s way into the PML-N and the biggest of those was Makhdoom Javed Hashmi. “Both Hashmi and Qureshi are arch rivals and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Javed Hashmi were working on an alliance on both constituencies of the National Assembly falling under Qureshi. Gilani wants to field his brother or son in one of the constituencies while the other would be decided by Hashmi. This is also in the knowledge of Qureshi and he had conveyed his concerns to Shahbaz Sharif in his last meeting,” said the source.
The source said that Qureshi was also mulling over reviving his own faction of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and he had also contacted PPP-SB leader Ghinwa Bhutto, urging her to field her daughter Fatima Bhutto against the Zardari-led PPP. However, the source said Ghinwa had dropped the proposal.
An associate of Qureshi told The Express Tribune that his meeting with Sharif would likely take place in Multan on Tuesday. MPA Abbas Raan said Nawaz’s youngest son Hassan Nawaz, had conveyed to family members of Qureshi his father’s desire to meet Sharif at the family residence in Multan, known as Bab-ul-Qureshi, Daulat Gate.
Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, a senior PML-N leader from Multan, backs Qureshi’s entry to the party, said a PML-N colleague of his. He said that Hashmi had opposed Qureshi quitting the PPP, but believed he would be an important leader for the PML-N.
Another associate of Nawaz Sharif said Hashmi had conveyed his support for Qureshi joining the party to the top PML-N leadership.
However, sources in the party said that there was still one hurdle to Qureshi being offered a significant position.
They said that the Khosa family of Dera Ghazi Khan, who have been allied with the Sharifs for a long time, would not like to see another major leader from the south Punjab region in a key position in the PML-N. Sardar Zulfikar Khosa is president of the PML-N’s Punjab chapter.
A PML-N insider told The Express Tribune on Sunday that Nawaz Sharif and other key leaders of the main opposition party were “desperate” for an opening in the remote southern parts of Punjab and upper Sindh and they believed that Qureshi was their best bet.
“Mian Sahib and the people he trusts have realised that an opportunity has come their way in the person of Qureshi … it looks like they will go to any lengths to grab it,” he said.
It is not clear what position Sharif would offer Qureshi. The PML-N is due to choose new office bearers for its Punjab chapter in a couple of weeks.
Qureshi belongs to Multan district in south Punjab, the so-called ‘Seraiki belt’ where the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has long overshadowed the PML-N. He quit both the PPP and his National Assembly seat a week ago, citing differences he had with President Asif Zardari earlier this year.
The former foreign minister is being wooed by both the PML-N and Imran Khan’s Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI). But while Sharif is to meet directly with Qureshi on November 22, Khan is not scheduled to meet him before the former minister announces his political future at a public rally in Ghotki, Sindh, on November 27.
With Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan claiming that former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would announce that he is joining the PTI at a public meeting on November 27 in Ghotki, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif is going all out to keep Qureshi away from the PTI and mutual friends are being pushed to attract him to the PML-N, Pakistan Today learnt on Friday. Khan recently said in a talk show that Qureshi would be announcing his decision to join the PTI at the public meeting in Ghotki.
Interestingly, Qureshi has opted to remain silent over his future ambitions and with the date of his Ghotki public meeting approaching, he has left for Dubai to keep analysts guessing. “Qureshi is an old friend. We haven’t met as yet but we’ve spoken over the phone and will meet very soon,” Sharif had told reporters at Sukkur airport on Thursday. PML-N sources claim that the meeting will be held on November 22, however no one was ready to confirm the meeting on the record. A PML-N source told Pakistan Today that his party chief thought Qureshi joining the PTI would give a huge boost to Imran Khan’s party, which would further dent the diminishing popularity of the PML-N and the only way to stop Qureshi was to use personal contacts. However, the source said further that there were irritants in Qureshi’s way into the PML-N and the biggest of those was Makhdoom Javed Hashmi. “Both Hashmi and Qureshi are arch rivals and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Javed Hashmi were working on an alliance on both constituencies of the National Assembly falling under Qureshi. Gilani wants to field his brother or son in one of the constituencies while the other would be decided by Hashmi. This is also in the knowledge of Qureshi and he had conveyed his concerns to Shahbaz Sharif in his last meeting,” said the source.
The source said that Qureshi was also mulling over reviving his own faction of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and he had also contacted PPP-SB leader Ghinwa Bhutto, urging her to field her daughter Fatima Bhutto against the Zardari-led PPP. However, the source said Ghinwa had dropped the proposal.
An associate of Qureshi told The Express Tribune that his meeting with Sharif would likely take place in Multan on Tuesday. MPA Abbas Raan said Nawaz’s youngest son Hassan Nawaz, had conveyed to family members of Qureshi his father’s desire to meet Sharif at the family residence in Multan, known as Bab-ul-Qureshi, Daulat Gate.
Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, a senior PML-N leader from Multan, backs Qureshi’s entry to the party, said a PML-N colleague of his. He said that Hashmi had opposed Qureshi quitting the PPP, but believed he would be an important leader for the PML-N.
Another associate of Nawaz Sharif said Hashmi had conveyed his support for Qureshi joining the party to the top PML-N leadership.
However, sources in the party said that there was still one hurdle to Qureshi being offered a significant position.
They said that the Khosa family of Dera Ghazi Khan, who have been allied with the Sharifs for a long time, would not like to see another major leader from the south Punjab region in a key position in the PML-N. Sardar Zulfikar Khosa is president of the PML-N’s Punjab chapter.
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