After a year during which it seemed like everyone except his own party wanted to speak to him and get his opinions on the issues of the day, Aitzaz Ahsan is back in President Zardari’s good graces. The two have been holding regular meetings in what is seen as a prelude to Aitzaz’s return to mainstream politics, probably as a minister.

It is not clear who initiated this contact. The media narrative is that a besieged Zardari had no option but to turn to the PPPs most popular figure. Those close to Zardari, though, say that Aitzaz’s ambitions know no bounds and he came to Zardari because he realised that if he wanted to be anything more than a media darling, he would have to make amends with the president.

Such parlour gossip doesn’t really matter. Both Zardari’s and Aitzaz’s self-interests require them to patch things up and that is what has happened. The cover Aitzaz’s support will provide Zardari can already be witnessed: Aitzaz has used his moral authority to ask all ministers who benefited from the NRO to resign but about Zardari he has only said that the president is immune from appearing before the Supreme Court.

Aitzaz will also be invaluable to the PPP in the next elections. While support for Pakistan’s political parties tends to be delineated along ethnic lines, the PPP is the only party that has ever enjoyed nationwide support. That support is at an all-time low right now and Aitzaz is the only PPP figure popular enough with the PML-N and independent voters outside of Sindh to boost his party’s fortunes.

In return for his services, Aitzaz is sure to be given a plum post in the government. Rumours reported in the press suggest that he will take over from Rehman Malik as interior minister. Malik is one of the few ministers who might get caught up in the NRO web, in which case Aitzaz could easily take over from him, especially since this is a post he held once before. Rehman Malik is a favourite of the Americans for the role he played first in the FIA when he was responsible for capturing Ramzi Yousuf and then in the negotiations with Musharraf to bring Benazir back to the country. The US will not be happy if Malik is forced out but Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry may leave them with no option.