Govt ally claims Shehbaz backs political dialogue

PML-F secretary general Muhammad Ali Durrani meets PML-N president in Kot Lakhpat jail

LAHORE:

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif seems to be in favour of a political dialogue to defuse the ongoing confrontation between the government and the opposition, according to a senior leader of a government ally – the PML-Functional.

Muhammad Ali Durrani, the PML-F secretary general, met Shehbaz in Kot Lakhpat jail on Thursday against the backdrop of the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) anti-government campaign, including en masse resignations from the assemblies and long march on Islamabad early next year.

As Shehbaz, who is also the opposition leader in the National Assembly, currently remains in jail while cases against him being tried in accountability court, his niece, Maryam Nawaz is running the PML-N show against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government from the PDM platform.

Talking to the media after the meeting, Durrani revealed that he came to meet Shehbaz on the instructions of PML-F chief Syed Sibghatullah Rashdi Pir Pagaro, adding that he held a “fruitful discussion” and determined that the country’s political leadership wanted to see the nation united.

According to Durrani, their discussion focused on four points – the need for a dialogue, functioning of parliament, avoiding a deadlock that could be caused by en masse resignations, and uniting all the factions of the Pakistan Muslim League.

“From the fruitful discussion, I have determined that the national leadership wants to see the country united. Even the opposition leadership wants to keep not only the opposition united but also wants to see unity among the people of Pakistan,” Durrani told reporters.

He said that he urged Shehbaz that the opposition should hold a grand dialogue “to defuse the air of confrontation” in the country, adding that the people of Pakistan were in agony due to the ongoing standoff between the government and opposition.

Durrani proposed a track-II dialogue between the government and the opposition. “Given the current state of affairs in Pakistan, the track-II dialogue is a doable option,” Durrani said. Such a dialogue, he continued, would be a somewhat behind-the-curtain activity and only its results would be visible.

He said the second suggestion was to make parliament functional and bring things back to normal. Their third suggestion, he added, was to avoid resignations. “These resignations will create a difficult situation as the country is already reeling from several crises, mainly the economic one.”

The fourth point, he discussed with the opposition leader, was that all the Pakistan Muslim League factions and the like-minded people should come forward and join hands. Durrani said that Shehbaz responded that he would go to any extent in uniting the nation as well as the opposition parties.

However, he pointed out that Shehbaz asked him “what could he do from the jail cell, even if he wanted to”. He said he asked him to play his role as the opposition leader. “Shehbaz Sharif told me to convey it to Pir Pagaro and everyone else that he was in prison, so what could he do from behind the bars.”

Durrani told reporters that the ongoing confrontation was not in anyone’s favour. He revealed that he had met Fazl several times on the issue. “I’m in contact with senior leaders of several parties.”

However, the PML-F secretary general clarified that their efforts were not to win anyone’s support, rather for “a national cause”. He emphasised that they were also against political victimisation of any sort. “The national leadership should not be subjected to any victimisation,” he added.

“The need of the hour is that the opposition parties should not only sign a charter of democracy but also a charter of reconciliation. It will be in favour of the government too because the business of the state will be put on track,” he added.

‘No sidekicks’

Later, talking to The Express Tribune, Durrani sounded optimistic about his efforts for a political reconciliation in the country. “Soon our efforts will bear fruits,” he said, confirming that he was in contact with the leaders on both sides of the political divide.

Asked why he approached Shehbaz, who was not even leading his party at the moment, Durrani said that after all, Shehbaz was the PML-N president, and “soon he will have all the control of his party”, adding that “at this stage there is no need to meet with sidekicks”.

Asked about the outcome of his meeting, the PML-F senior leader said that Shehbaz agreed to their proposals for defusing this air of confrontation. “But since this track-II dialogue will not be in the public domain, so I won’t be able to divulge any further details,” he added.

Meanwhile, responding to a query about Durrani’s meeting and Shehbaz’s purported willingness to hold dialogue, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb declined to comment, saying that she was not part of the meeting.

When asked that similar media reports had emerged after Bilawal Bhutto’s meeting, where Shehbaz reportedly suggested to the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman to consider a dialogue with the government, Aurangzeb gave that similar reply, “I’m not privy to that meeting either”.

Previously, Shehbaz, during his parole, had admitted that there was the need for a national dialogue which even then was in contrast with his own party’s policy. Asked if any leader had met Shehbaz since his meeting with Bilawal, Aurangzeb replied, “Not to my knowledge”.