Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has invited arch-rival Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) to join his new Cabinet, which is likely to be formed in the next few days.
The Prime Minister will dissolve his current Cabinet before forming a much smaller team. Sources told this newspaper that he will retain or appoint only those with a good reputation and a clean record.
“The Prime Minister talked to the PML(N) leadership and invited them to join the new Cabinet. He plans to meet Nawaz Sharif and Shahbaz Sharif (PML-N chief and deputy chief),” an official close to Mr Gilani said.
Mr Gilani is learnt to have assured the Sharif brothers that the PML(N)’s 10-point agenda would be adopted by the government. The official said while the PML(N) had not yet responded positively to the Prime Minister, its leaders promised support on matters in the national interest.
Speaking to reporters in Lahore, Mr Gilani said it was high time politicians shunned their differences. “We are friends, not masters; we will work seriously for implementation of the 10-point agenda, no one should doubt our intentions,” he said.
A consensus was being evolved on the Accountability Bill and it would be tabled in the House after the PML(N) and other parties were consulted, Mr Gilani said. The size of the Cabinet would be reduced and ministers’ performance reviewed, he added.
On the invitation to the PML(N) to rejoin the Cabinet, the Prime Minister said: “Our doors are open to them.” He added: “I am also in contact with MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Move-ment) chief Altaf Hussain and JUI-F (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal) leader Maul-ana Fazlur Rehman.”
Under the Constitution, the Cabinet should comprise 11 per cent of parliamentarians, with five per cent Senate representation.