KARACHI, Nov 18: The Pakistan People’s Party approached the estranged provincial leadership of the Awami National Party on Sunday requesting them to rejoin the coalition government in Sindh.

A PPP delegation led by Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani met the residence of Senator Shahi Syed, the provincial president of the ANP, over a lunch.

The ANP was part of the coalition government in Sindh and after the promulgation of the Sindh People’s Local Government Ordinance 2012, it parted ways with the PPP government and its provincial minister, Ameer Nawab, tendered his resignation.

During the meeting, which lasted for over two hours, they discussed at length issues of mutual interest, the prevailing political situation and matters concerning the new local government law.

Law Minister Ayaz Soomro, Rashid Rabbani and Waqar Mehdi were also part of the PPP delegation.

Later, Mr Durrani told Dawn that he highlighted the need for close cooperation between the government and the ANP.

“We requested the ANP to rejoin the coalition government and offered them that if they have proposals to improve the new local government law for its better delivery, we are ready to consider and redress their reservations as well,” he said.

He said he drew their attention to the reconciliation policy of the PPP, which had helped the coalition parties to serve the people for over four years, and told them that it would be better to continue helping each others rather than challenging the allies at a time when elections were just a few months away.

He said the government was open to dialogue on any difference of opinion.

Mr Durrani said he told Senator Syed that it was a lapse on the PPP part that it failed to consult the ANP before making public the new LG law. But it did not mean that instead of resolving differences through dialogue they should opt to street agitation. “After all, the new law is passed by an elected house and it could only be amended through democratic methods. The agitation had never solved any problem, he added.

Senator Syed welcomed the delegation at his residence and said that the ANP was a democratic party, which believed in dialogues.

He assured the PPP delegation that he would put whatever had been discussed at the meeting of his party leadership and after consultation would inform them about the party stand in this regard.

In reply to a question, Mr Durrani said the government was keen to bring back all estranged coalition partners into the government fold and also had open communication not only with them, but also with nationalists as well.