Pak Prez joins hands with Mush's PML-Q

Even as Pakistan was plunged into fresh turmoil on Thursday with PML-N cadres protesting the Supreme Court order barring the Sharif brothers from contesting polls, the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by president Asif Ali Zardari decided to join hands with the Pervez Musharraf-backed Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid) to form governments at the centre and in Punjab province.

Zardari's slain wife Benazir Bhutto had, in a letter, named PML-Q's parliamentary party leader Pervez Elahi as one of her "would be assassins".

Zardari too had accused the PML-Q leadership of "murdering Benazir". But a little more than a year later, all that seems to be forgotten. With a strategic strength in Punjab and in the National Assembly, the PML-Q's support is crucial for both the PPP and PML-N.

Well-placed PPP circles say top PML-Q leaders are likely to meet Zardari to finalise the power-sharing deal.

Meanwhile, PTI reported that prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday made a reconciliatory gesture to the PML-N.

Amir Mir/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication