Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders on Saturday continued to grasp at straws in London, as the hours ticked away ahead of the deadline set for the restoration of the deposed judges.
However, no breakthrough was achieved though PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, who planned to set out for Pakistan on Saturday evening, delayed his departure reportedly for a day.
Talking to The News staffer Mazhar Tufail from London late Saturday night, PML-N leader Khawaja Asif said Nawaz Sharif would issue a joint statement on talks on his return to Pakistan. He said the PPP had not given any written draft to the PML-N during the talks.
According to a top PML-N source close to the leaders engaged in talks, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher would meet Nawaz in London on Sunday.
Earlier, PPP leaders Rehman Malik and Hussain Haqqani met PML-N leaders Shahbaz Sharif and Khawaja Asif and according to Rehman Malik the talks were heading in the right direction. He told newsmen that he was hopeful that they would achieve some result very soon.
However, PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif was reported as saying that the ball was now in the PPP court. He said the deadlock persisted between the PPP and the PML-N on the restoration of the deposed judges.
Another PML-N leader Khwaja Asif said they had 48 hours left and there would be no further extension in the deadline.
PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari was quoted as saying that the Bhurban Declaration would be implemented in the light of the Charter of Democracy signed between Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto.
The participants of talks continued to brief their party heads Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif time and again. Zardari and Nawaz were to meet if the second tier leadership reached an agreement. This did not happen till the filing of this report at 2:00 am (pst).
Khwaja Asif and Haqqani reportedly met Zardari but this did not help break the impasse.
The PPP in a statement also stressed the need for not raising the temperature at this stage. It said the people should be educated about the real issues.
PPP leaders reportedly brought with them a 13-point draft to the talks. PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif also put down some points on a paper and signed it.
PPP sources in London told Geo that deadlines are not given much importance throughout the world. They also rejected the impression that the PPP was constrained by the National Reconciliation Ordinance in their talks with the PML-N on the judges’ restoration.
They insisted that the PPP and the PML-N were bound to keep their alliance intact even if their differences on judges remained unresolved.
Meanwhile, Bilawal Zardari Bhutto and Sanam Bhutto also met Zardari in his hotel room. Zardari left his hotel for an unknown destination in the evening. He was not accompanied by any PPP leaders and was also not wearing the usual smile on his face.
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