Ahead of a crucial meeting between the two victorious opposition leaders, President Pervez Musharraf’s aides have reportedly urged Pakistan People’s Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari not to join hands with Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N to form a coalition and even discussed possible prime ministerial candidates from PPP.

Musharraf’s aides met Zardari on Tuesday for discussions on the formation of the next government, their first contact since the February 18 general election, Dawn News channel reported on Wednesday.

Musharraf’s close aides, including National Security Council Secretary Tariq Aziz, met Zardari and urged him not to hold talks with the PML-N on forming a government at the centre, official sources told Dawn News.

Zardari was non-committal in this regard and sources close to the PPP co-chairman told Dawn News that he did not want to forge an alliance with the PML-Q, the party which backs Musharraf and was routed in the polls.

Musharraf’s aides and Zardari also discussed the names of the PPP’s prime ministerial candidates. The government team favoured PPP vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the president of the Punjab unit of the PPP, and senior party leader Yusuf Raza Gilani, the sources said.

This was the first contact between Musharraf’s aides and Zardari since the February 18 general election. Zardari has met Aziz at least once in the run-up to the polls. The PML-N’s unexpectedly strong performance in the polls, especially in the politically crucial Punjab province, has made the PPP wary about forging an alliance with Sharif’s party.

‘Coalition’

Faced with severe electoral reverses and an apparent challenge to his eight-year reign, President Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday said general elections have strengthened moderate forces in Pakistan and the country now needed a “harmonious coalition.”

ZARDARI GETS BUSY

Islamabad, pti: As uncertainty continued over government formation in Pakistan, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday met US Ambassador Anne Patterson and discussed the situation arising out of the hung verdict in the parliament elections.

Neither side came out with details of the meeting that went on for more than an hour at the American embassy here. Zardari had also met three US senators including John Kerry and Joseph Biden, who were here to observe the elections.