MEET MR.SONIA GANDHI

''Meet Mr Sonia Gandhi'' that was how a PPP spokesperson recently introduced party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to a group of journalists.Spokesperson Sherry Rehman's reference to Zardari, the husband of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, was in a lighter vein but he took it more seriously.Zardari explained to the journalists who met him in Bhutto's ancestral village of Naudero that he, like the Congress President, wanted to take a back seat and let the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leadership decide things.''I think we should have a national government after the elections as this country has become ungovernable,'' Zardari was quoted as saying by the Dawn.'

'It's not about power this time; we want to set things right first, strengthen institutions by taking everybody along, including (former premier and PML-N chief) Nawaz Sharif.''Zardari said he saw his role as a cementing force to keep the PPP together. He would try to keep a balance among divergent forces and preserve Bhutto's legacy.''If our party wins a majority in (the) elections, I will not take a Cabinet post but will act like Sonia Gandhi, as an advisory figure without a seat in Parliament,'' he had said.Just a few days after Bhutto's assassination on December 27, Zardari had said he would be an ''advisory figure'' like Sonia Gandhi, but without a seat in Parliament, if the PPP is voted to power in the February 18 general election.