PPP says PML-N used PDM, urges Fazl to take back his words

• Fazl is a sensible person, hope he makes the "right choice", says Kaira. 
• Shahbaz Sharif wants to unite Opposition, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi wants to tear it, says Kaira. 
• A day earlier, Fazl had said PPP and ANP can both rejoin PDM if they issue an apology. 

The PPP has urged Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman to take back his words against the party and has said that the PML-N used the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to fulfill its wishes. 

PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira was reacting to PDM chief Fazl and PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz's statements on Tuesday. 

While the former said the PPP should apologise to the PDM, Maryam added that the dinner meeting hosted by PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif a few days ago, had nothing to do with the alliance. 

Kaira acknowledged Sharif's efforts to unit the alliance, saying that on the other hand, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was tearing it apart. He said the PPP has conveyed to Fazl to "take back his words" against the party. 

Kaira said Fazl is a sensible person and hopefully, "will make the right decision". 

He also urged the PML-N president to bring about transparency in his party's stance, adding that Maryam, Rana Tanveer and Abbasi had said on record that they did not want to end the incumbent government. 

'PPP, PML-N can rejoin PDM if they apologise'

Earlier in the day, Fazl had said the PPP and the ANP could rejoin the PDM if they apologise to the anti-government movement for going against its decisions.

The PDM chief's comments came during his meeting with PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif at the latter's residence in Lahore.

PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, PML-N Deputy Secretary-General Attaullah Tarar, and JUI-F leaders Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri and Maulana Asad Mahmood were in attendance during the meeting.

Fazl, addressing a press conference after the meeting, had said both parties — PPP and ANP — had been given sufficient time to get back to the PDM leadership, but they have not done so.

"There are currently no proposals to invite PPP and ANP at the PDM meeting on May 29," he had said. However, during the meeting, the leaders will decide the future of PPP and ANP in the alliance.

'Shahbaz's dinner had nothing to do with PDM'

In another development related to the alliance, Maryam Nawaz had said her party president Sharif's dinner — held a day earlier with PPP, ANP, and other Opposition party leaders in presence — had nothing to do with the PDM.

"He hosted the dinner as the leader of Opposition, as they had to devise a strategy for the budget session," Maryam had said while speaking to journalists in Islamabad.

She said the PDM had decided to hold a meeting after Ramadan and it will take place within two days to decide the alliance's future course of action.

Responding to a question, Maryam had said she had not attended the dinner as she wasn't a parliamentarian and asked the journalist to "stop making an issue out of everything".

Shahbaz's dinner

Shahbaz Sharif, on Monday, had hosted a dinner reception and asked all the Opposition parties to join hands and move forward with the anti-government movement, sources said.

Leader of the Opposition in Senate Yousuf Raza Gilani, PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Sherry Rehman, ANP leader Amir Haider Khan Hoti, and other party leaders were present.

The overall political situation of the country was also discussed at the dinner, sources had said.