ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the PPP as the largest political force in the country possesses the will and capacity to accommodate all political forces with divergent manifestoes on the same platform for the sake of strengthening democracy and democratic institutions in the country.

He said this Friday night while addressing a meeting with a 17member delegation of Awami National Party parliamentarians led by ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan in the Presidency.

The meeting of ANP parliamentarians was also attended by Qamar Zaman Kaira, Syed Naveed Qamar, Raza Rabbani, Senator Nayyar Hussain Bokhari, Ms. Fouzia Wahab, Ms. Rukhsana Bangash, Ms. Fouzia Habib, Sardar Ali Khan, Zahir Ali Shah, Rahimdad Khan, Mehreen AnwarRaja, Asma Alamgir and Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhat Ullah Babar.

Briefing the media, Spokesperson to the President former Senator Farhat Ullah Babar said that the President said that the experiment of coalition government in Pakistan was gaining strength, which was a very positive development for the growth of democracy.

He said that if coalition partners disagreed on a certain issue, it did not mean that they could not co-exist.

He said it was encouraging that political forces in the country agreed to disagree among themselves and had matured enough not to rock the system.

The President said that the PPP will play its part in strengthening the federation.

In this context a package for empowering Balochistan had almost been finalized and the Prime Minister had briefed him today.

Babar said that the President appreciated the role played by the ANP in the fight against militancy.

He said that democracy had given political ownership to the fight against militancy, which was not available during dictatorship.

The fight against militancy however is a long and tough battle, as we have to not only fight the extremists but also the extremist mindset.

The adversary in this battle should not be underestimated, he said.

The President said that when political forces fight among themselves, the situation is exploited against democracy. Therefore, the political forces should be always alive to the situation and not let their mutual differences spill over beyond limits.

The PPP is determined to take all political forces on board to strengthen democracy, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan said that dialogue and discussion was the essence of democracy and thanked the President for inviting the ANP MPs for a dialogue.

He said that the ANP appreciated the fact that the President of Pakistan had for the first time described our province as Pakhtoonkhawa both in his address to the United Nations and in his formal address to the national Parliament.

A number of ANP MPs also spoke on the occasion and drew President’’s attention towards various issues including NFC award, FATA reforms, payment of net hydal profits and women rights.