Gilani may reach out to PML-N under army pressure: Report

Under pressure from the army to defuse the political crisis in Pakistan, premier Yousuf Raza Gilani may reach out to the opposition PML-N and withdraw controversial decisions, including Shahbaz Sharif's removal as Punjab chief minister, a media report claimed on Friday.

Gilani told a group of outgoing members of the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, during a private discussion that he wanted to "decisively deliver" in the crisis even if it meant having to lose his post, The News daily reported.

"Prime ministers come and go but what they do remains in the annals of history. I want to do something worthwhile to break the prevailing logjam," Gilani was quoted as saying by one of the senators.

Gilani was asked at a dinner he hosted for the outgoing senators on Wednesday as to what army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had told him to do during their meeting. The premier replied that Kayani had expressed his concern at the prevailing situation and wanted him to defuse it.

"You should play your constitutional and legal role in calming down the situation," Kayani was quoted as telling the premier.

However, the prime minister's office and the army spokesman could not be reached for comments on the report.

When Gilani asked a senator what was the solution to the crisis, the senator reportedly replied that the premier should reinstate senior opposition PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif as chief minister of Punjab, undo the Supreme Court's order barring Shahbaz and Nawaz Sharif from holding elected office and sack provincial governor Salmaan Taseer.

"The exit of the governor would take some time to materialise while the other things can be done without any major delay," Gilani was quoted as saying by the paper, which claimed that the prime minister is set to "undo all the wrongs".

Another senator said Gilani made it clear that he was not a "product or beneficiary" of the National Reconciliation Ordinance, a controversial law passed by former president Pervez Musharraf to scrap graft cases against president Asif Ali Zardari and other leaders of the ruling PPP.

This senator said Gilani was "conscious of the fact that Washington, London and some other powerful capitals wanted the political situation in Pakistan to stabilise and their representatives had communicated their concern to him and other top leaders of the country."

Yet another senator suggested to Gilani that he should use his legal and constitutional powers to resolve the confrontation-ridden situation or nothing would be left for the politicians to salvage.

In a chance encounter with PML-N parliamentarian Abid Sher Ali in a corridor of the National Assembly, lower house of Parliament, on Wednesday, Gilani sounded as if he was going to accept all the demands of lawyers and opposition parties.

"Abid Sher, what do you want? You certainly don't want Abdul Hameed Dogar as the (Supreme Court) chief justice. You want (sacked) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as the chief justice, you want the implementation of the Charter of Democracy, and you want lifting of Governor's Rule (in Punjab). Will you be happy if all this is done?" Gilani reportedly asked.

Ali said the PML-N, civil society, opposition parties and the entire Pakistani nation would be happy if such steps were taken by the government.

An official spokesman told The News that there "was no doubt that the prime minister was making sincere and hectic efforts to do away with the crisis-like situation. Everybody has such a strong desire."

The spokesman said Gilani had repeatedly stated publicly that he wanted political reconciliation.