Daily Times

Senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Rana Sanaullah, on Thursday expressed willingness to engage in dialogue with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). However, he added that no talks can take place with those involved in the May 9 riots.

Talking to the media in Lahore, Sanaullah highlighted the corruption case against Farah Gogi, a close acquaintance of former first lady Bushra Bibi, saying that there is a legal procedure to bring back her from abroad and investigative agencies were working on it. Bringing clarity on the leadership hierarchy within the party, Sanaullah said Shehbaz Sharif was the president while Nawaz Sharif was the supreme leader of PML-N. Emphasising that his party was placed in a good position in South Punjab against the backdrop of upcoming elections, Sanaullah said that strong contenders were emerging from all constituencies and the party was facing difficulty in choosing among them since “all were good”.

Former interior minister also hinted at a potential meeting between Nawaz Sharif and PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain soon. He said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had the right to stop someone from Lahore from becoming prime minister and make the path smoother for a prime minister from Larkana.

The PML-N leader said that his party would accept the poll results whether the premiership’s candidate is from Sindh, Lahore or Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as long as the people voted for that individual. He said that former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was like a brother to him, adding that he was not annoyed with PML-N and will continue to cooperate with the party.

In September, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari laid the blame for being denied a level-playing field on the PML-N. Without naming it, he took a subtle jibe at the PML-N, by saying that it is “really a weird” thing that a certain party knew the election date.

On November 6, Zardari hoped his son Bilawal would be victorious with the rise of February 8’s sun next year when general elections will take place in the country.

Bilawal expressed hope that the country’s next prime minister will not be from “Lahore” – the stronghold of PML-N. Taking a jibe at PML-N supremo Nawaz who returned to the country on October 21 after ending a four-year self-imposed exile in London, Zardari on Tuesday said that he was not leaving the country as he was bound by his workers. “What will I say to my worker when I look him in the eye,” Zardari further said. He added that his party does its own politics whatever may be the politics of others. On the other hand, in order to give the PPP a tough time in Sindh, the PML-N and MQM-P decided to contest the upcoming general elections together.