Speculation as Pervaiz meets Zardari

LAHORE: Punjab Assembly Speaker and PTI government’s major ally Ch Pervaiz Elahi visited Bilawal House here on Tuesday, and met PPP-P head Asif Ali Zardari, sparking speculation.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari is currently in Lahore. He warmly received Pervaiz Elahi at Bilawal House. According to press release, the two leaders discussed the current political situation and issues related to Parliament. They were unanimous on rule of law and independence of judiciary. Parvez also had a meeting with the opposition leader in Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz, in his chamber this week.

The Tuesday meeting sparked speculation. According to unconfirmed claims, meetings of Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have been scheduled with former president of PML-N Balochistan, Lt Gen (R) Abdul Qadir Baloch, Zehri brothers and some important political figures. It is also being suggested that former president of PML-N Punjab, Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, was also willing to join the PPP, provided Zardari and Bilawal visited him.

In a press release, Chaudhry Parvez Elahi said he had visited Bilawal House to thank Zardari for his support in the unopposed Senate election in Punjab. He said that he wanted to go to Karachi to meet Asif Zardari, but he said meeting could take place in Lahore.

Talking to The News from Dera Ghazi Khan, Sardar Zulfiqar denied he was being wooed by the PPP to join it. He said that for now, he was not active in political activities. He said he had a relation of mutual respect with Asif Ali Zardari, and his son Sardar Dost Muhammad Khan Khosa was already part of the PPP, adding his other son Sardar Saifuddin Khan Khosa was in the PTI. "I am a senior politician, and am politically inactive these days. I am back home in DG Khan, while PPP top leadership is in Lahore at the moment. I wonder how people start speculating out of the blue."

Sardar went on to say that he wouldn't have any hesitation in talking politics with the PPP supremo against the backdrop of my close relations with family.