Abbottabad probe: Independent commission only to fulfil formalities?

Gilani told PML-N that all coalition partners, civil, military authorities were inclined towards a military inquiry.

LAHORE:

The PPP-led coalition government has indicated to the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) that an independent commission to investigate the May 2 Abbottabad fiasco will be formed just to fulfil formalities, well-placed sources in PML-N told The Express Tribune.

The independent commission was promised in a parliamentary resolution following a special in-camera joint session of Parliament on May 13.

However, sources said that, before his departure to China, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had conveyed to PML-N senior leaders that all the coalition partners, and the civil and military authorities were inclined towards giving more weight to the military inquiry.

The government has asked PML-N to not push for an all-powerful independent commission as even the military establishment has conveyed its reservations in this regard.

The PPP-led coalition government had also expressed its reservations on the names suggested by the PML-N for the commission.

Senator Ishaq Dar and leader of opposition in National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan will meet PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif today at Raiwind where a draft of the terms and conditions of the independent commission would be devised. They said that after the approval of the party chief, the draft will be handed over to Gilani.

After receiving message from the government on the formation of a ‘poor’ independent commission, Sharif has decided to launch a mass movement against the PPP-led coalition government and has started to address public gatherings in this regard.

They said at the same time the PML-N will also try to force the federal government to implement the terms and conditions of an independent commission in the house.

PML-N has chalked out its future course of action in next three months, which include holding public gatherings in all major cities of the country, according to the sources.

They also added that by using the ‘independent commission card’, the PML-N would malign the government and mobilise the public.  They said that Nawaz’s public addresses were also a step towards party reorganisation in the country. They said that in the next three months PML-N would arrange marches against the federal government.

Meanwhile, Nawaz in a public address in Gujrat on Friday said that PML-N would hold talks with Gilani regarding the terms and conditions of an independent commission after his arrival from China. He added that if the federal government showed reluctance to implement or constitute an effective independent commission, he would launch a massive movement against the government.

Nawaz also indirectly criticised the political ethics of the PML-Q leadership. He said that politics should be based on principles not on personal interests. He added that if this rule was adopted in the realm of Pakistani politics, no one would violate the country’s sovereignty.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2011.