Govt looking to retract Leaks notification

PM consults aides, family members on options to defuse tensions with military

ISLAMABAD: Reeling under pressure following the military’s outright rejection of the notification issued by his office to ‘punish’ two government functionaries over the Dawn Leaks episode, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif consulted his aides in Lahore on Sunday to discuss options to defuse a burgeoning civil-military row.

In this connection, the government is considering to either formally withdraw the contentious notification or to unofficially discard it and issue a separate ‘comprehensive’ notification through the interior ministry, sources privy to developments said.

They added that the prime minister was scheduled to fly back to Islamabad on Sunday night to hold further consultations with his legal wizards before resuming official business today (Monday).

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad – whose signature was on the notification in question – and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz were part of the low-key consultative huddle in Lahore.



Ruling party sources close to Nawaz said Nisar was unhappy with the issuance of the notification by the Prime Minister’s Office. They said the interior minister, who was directly dealing with the Dawn Leaks issue, felt he was ‘bypassed’ by the premier’s secretary to issue the notification.

According to sources, the premier’s aides told him that the security establishment’s disappointment over the notification stemmed mainly from the fact that it was issued by Fawad, whose own role is being questioned in the Dawn leaks episode.

“An individual, who is one of the suspects in this matter, is issuing a notification to punish other suspects. What a contradiction!” remarked a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz lawmaker who enjoys good terms with military authorities on condition of anonymity.

In addition to this, the notification stated that the prime minister was ‘pleased to approve’ only a single paragraph – paragraph 18 – instead of the entire Dawn Leaks report. “This did not go down well with the security brass and explains why the notification was termed incomplete by the military,” the PML-N lawmaker said.

“Security bosses waited for months for something that turned out to be a farce. The notification added insult to injury,” he added.

Sources said the interior minister’s statement made at the press conference in Karachi on Saturday that the “government did not issue any notification” was part of damage control measures, indicating the government’s strategy to unofficially discard the notification by publicly denouncing it.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, political analyst Kanwar Dilshad said the government did not need to act in ‘haste’ to issue a ‘half-baked’ notification. “I think the interior minister is unhappy and as is the security establishment.”

“When interior minister was already dealing with the issue, there was absolutely no need to issue a controversial notification, and that too by someone as controversial as Fawad,” he said. “I think Fawad convinced the prime minister to issue it to bail himself out.”



“The security establishment wants the findings of the inquiry report published in black and white, and the responsibility be fixed accordingly. The prime minister approving the recommendations of just one paragraph of the inquiry report is just a joke and eyewash. ”

Punjab CM discusses Imran’s allegations with PM

Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a separate meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz on Sunday as well, sources said. According to them, the brothers met separately to discuss the bribery allegations Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan has levelled at them.

While addressing an event at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Peshawar on Tuesday, Imran claimed the PML-N government had offered him Rs10 billion to back down from the Panamagate case.

The Punjab chief minister cancelled three of his engagements to meet the prime minister, sources said. (WITH ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY OUR CORRESPONDENT IN LAHORE)