Efforts to wreck Zardari-Sharif alliance fail

The latest efforts to use prominent lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan, to create misunderstandings between Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-N leader Nawaz Sharif, have failed.

Some elements in Pakistan's intelligence agency were using their links in the PPP and the media to establish that Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan was trying to become a candidate for the position of either the prime minister or the President through the PML-N. But their efforts to create a rift between the two opposition parties, which are planning to form a coalition government, failed.
 
In a recent press conference, Sharif was asked if he supported the candidature of Ahsan for the position of prime minister. Sharif replied in the negative and Ahsan expressed his support for Makhdoom Amin Faheem for the position. 
 
Ahsan is organising a rally on March 9 to demand the restoration of judges, who were sacked after they refused to support the emergency declared by President Pervez Musharraf last year. Enemies of the PPP-PML-N coalition once again tried to use the March 9 rally, not only against the SCBA president but also against the coalition in the making.

They planted some false information within the rank and file of the PPP, suggesting that  Ahsan is actually trying to blackmail PPP by using the 'right wing' agenda of the PML-N.

Some other supporters of the establishment claimed, in front of Zardari, that Ahsan is trying to project himself as the next President of Pakistan with the help of Sharif. However, Zardari did not react to these claims. Instead, he checked with his new political partner Sharif, who immediately shot down the idea.
 
Meanwhile, Sharif contacted Ahsan on the telephone from Murree and discussed his March rally. Aitzaz assured him that he has no intentions to put undue pressure on the new Parliament for the restoration of judges and he can readjust the date accordingly.

Sharif assured him that he was committed to the restoration of the sacked judges, but he wanted the new Parliament to have 10-15 days to address this issue.
 
According to Ahsan, certain newspapers are trying to twist his statements, as he never gave any warning or deadline to the PPP and the PML-N for the restoration of judges.

Talking to The News, he said, "I am not a presidential candidate. I have not talked to anyone in this regard. I have not spoken against the PPP, the PML-N or Zardari, and I think we all should move jointly in one direction". 
 
Ahsan praised Zardari, saying, "He is moving ahead very intelligently, he has proved that he is a mature politician."

It is learnt that Shrif is consulting prominent jurist Fakharudin G Ibrahim before making a proposal for the restoration of judges.

On the other hand, Zardari is also consulting independent experts like Asma Jahangir, for the same reason.

It can be expected that Fakhro Bhai and Asma Jahangir will be able to find a roadmap, which will be acceptable to the PPP, the PML-N, the lawyers and the nation.

Both of them have played an active role in the recent lawyers' movement and are unlikely to provide an excuse for creating further misunderstandings between the PPP and the PML-N.