Zardari, Nawaz break bread

ISLAMABAD-President Asif Ali Zardari said that he also wanted to see the Parliament strong and supreme and assured Pakistan Muslim League(Nawaz)Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif that he would follow Parliament’s dictates when it comes to striking balance between the powers of the offices of President and Prime Minister.
Former premier and Quaid of his own faction of Pakistan Muslim League Mian Nawaz Sharif along with his spouse Begum Kalsoom Nawaz attended the special dinner reception hosted in their honour here at Awan-I-Sadr by President Asif Ali Zardari.
Later at the dinner table Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and his spouse also joined them.
The couple was received at Awan-I-Sadr by President Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur and others. After exchanging pleasantries, PML(N) Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari got into real business of discussing the prevailing political situation in the country and to look into the irritants affecting their already strained relations.
Some reliable PML-N sources disclosed to The Nation that before going to Awan-i-Sadr for dinner, Mian Nawaz Sharif chaired a meeting of a few selected party leaders to get their input on the host of issues including the judicial crisis.
It was decided in the meeting that the concerns of the PML(N) should be aired in the meeting with President Zardari so that the house could be put in order.
These sources further said that the meeting between the two was held in a cordial atmosphere wherein both sides candidly shared views on host of issues.
President Asif Ali Zardari, who had quite often called Mian Nawaz Sharif as his elder brother, sought PML(N) Quaid’s in steering the country out of prevailing crises. Mian Nawaz Sharif responded by cautiously extending support to PPP-led coalition government but at the same time minced no words in demanding the implementation of Charter of Democracy in true letter and spirit.
The sources said that Mian Nawaz Sharif expressed his concern over the delay in the constitution of the Parliamentary Committees to determine Pakistan’s role in war on terror and to strike down the 17th Constitutional Amendment, Article 58(2)b and other amendments that had distorted the 1973 Constitution.
President Asif Ali Zardari was forthcoming in agreeing to concede the powers vested in the office of President of Pakistan under 17th Constitutional Amendment, Article 58(2)b and other amendments. He committed that he would follow the dictates of the Parliament.
He further said that he himself wanted to see the Parliament strong and supreme. “That’s why I in my address to the Parliament asked the MPs to rationalize the powers between the offices of President and Prime Minister”, he observed.