ISLAMABAD/KARACHI: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zar­dari plan to meet in Raiwind on Saturday to discuss the political crisis created by two sit-ins in Islamabad and ways of finding a way out.

The prime minister called Mr Zardari and invited him to lunch. The PPP chief, who arrived in Karachi on Thursday, accepted the invitation.

A PPP leader said Mr Zardari would be accompanied at the meeting by senior leaders Syed Khursheed Shah, Aitzaz Ahsan and Raza Rabbani. He will return to Karachi in the evening.

It is learnt that Mr Zardari also plans to meet Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq in Lahore.

According to sources, the prime minister told Mr Zardari that the government believed in resolving political issues through talks and all major political parties in parliament had expressed their determination that they would not allow anyone to derail democracy.

The PPP chief also talked to Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain on phone and told him about his scheduled meeting with the prime minister. Both expressed the hope that the crisis would be resolved soon.

Meanwhile, Mr Zardari spent a hectic day in Karachi. He held meetings with PPP leaders and called heads of other mainstream parties to discuss ways of steering the country out of the crisis.

During the meetings, sources in Bilawal House said, Mr Zardari expressed the hope that the issues could be resolved by democratic means and without anyone to derail democracy.

Syed Khursheed Shah briefed Mr Zardari on the demands made of the PTI and PAT, the process of negotiations launched by the government and the contacts made by the PPP with the two sides.

The former president warned that the situation could take a dangerous turn if the current stalemate in the negotiations continued. “The country cannot afford any unconstitutional move,” he was quoted as saying.

The leaders who were contacted by Mr Zardari included PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad and PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014