ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Peoples Party patron-in-chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s decision to welcome Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif personally during his visit to Tharparkar was praised by leaders across the political spectrum.
The PPP leader’s gesture came weeks after his father, Pakistan Peoples Party President Asif Ali Zardari broke ground on an energy project in Sindh with the Premier. On Thursday, Sharif visited the residence of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan, a staunch critic of the PML-N government.
Observers say this signals a new trend wherein political rivals are united on an issue of national significance, putting aside their differences to form consensus.
“It seems our political forces have matured with the passage of time,” commented Nazir Ahmad Bughio, PPP MNA from Larkana.
“They want to pave the road to strengthen democratic norms and are burying the past.”
He added, “We should end the old culture of rivalry and instead create an environment conducive to democratic values in political parties and society in general.”
Bughio said he expected that a similarly friendly reception would be accorded to PPP leaders on subsequent visits to Punjab.
PPP leaders give credit for this attitude to the party’s chairperson Benazir Bhutto. “We pursued the idea of reconciliation,” said Naveed Chaudhry, a veteran PPP leader from Lahore, adding, “Bilawal is taking the ideology of our late leader forward.”
While commenting that the party accepted the results of last year’s elections, despite serious reservations, Chaudhry said the PPP has extended all possible support to the PML-N government.
He remarked that during Zardari’s tenure as president, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif avoided meetings with him in Lahore. Internews
