President Zardari terms Shehbaz-Gandapur meeting ‘good beginning’ for new govt

In a rare occasion in national politics after formation of a new government, President Asif Ali Zardari welcomed a meeting between arch-rivals Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, terming it a “good beginning”.

Shehbaz’s government came into power this month, after his party Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) formed an alliance with Zardari’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and other smaller parties.

In opposition, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has formed its government in the KP province, claims that the PML-N and the PPP secured victory in the February 8 elections by “stealing” PTI’s mandate.

The relation between these parties has for years remain strained, Gandapur, after being elected as the chief minister, saying that although he doesn’t accept the PML-N’s government, he would still keep a working relationship with the Centre.

As part of this, he met Prime Minister Shehbaz in Islamabad on Wednesday and hailed his first engagement with the chief executive belonging to the rival PML-N as "positive".

In response, President Zardari has welcomed the interaction between the prime minister and the chief minister, a statement from the President’s Secretariat read.

“It is high time we start thinking of working towards healing the divisions Pakistan has been going through,” he added.

The president said that he had always advocated for prioritising Pakistan above all else, and it was time we gave people hope in the democratic process by showing them it could work.

“This outreach is a good beginning,” he stated.

CM Gandapur, talking to journalists after the meeting, had said he stressed the need to hold political dialogue with the party’s incarcerated founder, Imran Khan, who has been behind bars since August last year in different cases ranging from corruption to terrorism.

The premier, during the meeting, told Gandapur that all four provinces were the components of the federation and when they moved together, the country could achieve progress and development, it added.