PM-CJP meeting: Nawaz not amenable to idea but Shehbaz prevailed

PM is said to have discussed plan with Punjab CM who managed to convince his elder brother

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leadership may be bitterly targeting the superior judiciary but it was very much in the loop regarding the unusual meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar.

Background discussions with informed PML-N leaders suggest that party supremo Nawaz Sharif was not amenable to the idea that the government should request the CJP to meet the PM.

However, the PML-N’s new president and Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif played an instrumental role in convincing his elder brother ahead of the rare interaction.



According to sources, PM Abbasi had a telephonic contact with Shehbaz in which the possibility of requesting the CJP for a meeting was discussed. Reportedly, Shehbaz agreed to request the CJP for an audience. He then spoke to his brother over the telephone to take him into confidence regarding the plan.

“And when Nawaz finally agreed, the PM's Office approached the CJP office with the request for a meeting,” he said, adding that the request was immediately entertained – to their pleasant surprise –and the PM was given the time to arrive at the CJP's chamber at 7pm on Tuesday.

It was after this move that media representatives were informed about the meeting by the CJP staff some half an hour before the meeting, said the sources.

They said the possibility of requesting the CJP to meet the PM was discussed between Shehbaz and Abbasi a few days ago, before the Punjab CM flew to London for a medical checkup but there was no headway in this regard because the elder Sharif did not agree to the idea.

The PM Office and PML-N leaders at the Centre were tightlipped on the issue when approached for comments. However, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah did not see anything unusual in the meeting.

"When the heads of two organs of the state meet, it serves the national interest. Collision between state institutions does not help Pakistan," he told The Express Tribune.



The minister said he did not have details of the meetings and would be in a position to share the relevant information only after getting updated on the matter.

Sanaullah did not confirm or deny when asked about Shehbaz's role in the meeting, saying the matter was not known to him.

A PML-N senator, requesting anonymity, confirmed that the meeting took place on the PM's request. He, however, denied that the meeting was part of government's effort to get some kind of relief from the Supreme Court and subordinate judiciary in connection with the ongoing trial of Sharif family.

"I don't think this should be presumed as a sign of reconciliation. In my opinion, this will have no effect on the trial [of the Sharifs]. It's just that an impression was being created that executive is on collision course with the judiciary which needed to be dispelled and tension needed to be diffused," said the senator.