PPP in push for grand political dialogue

Three-member body to take coalition partners into confidence

LAHORE:

To take the country’s politics out of a blind alley, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has constituted a three-member committee to convince the main political parties in the alliance – the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) – to hold dialogue with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

According to PPP, a three-member committee was constituted comprising former prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Syed Naveed Qamar, and Qamar Zaman Kaira to engage with allies in the coalition government to reach a consensus on dialogue with all political parties.

The decision to form a committee was taken during a core committee meeting of the party on April 7, wherein the party had emphasised the need for holding dialogue with all political parties and had decided then to approach parties in coalition government to convince them to take a joint position on the issue of dialogue.

The statement issued during the April 7 meeting and the statement issued for the formation of this three-member committee, however, kept the Terms of Reference (ToRs) of the committee limited to engaging only the allied parties and not the PTI.

The PML-N and the JUI-F, the main coalition partners in government, already ruled out the possibility of holding a dialogue with the PTI, accusing them of being a terrorist organisation. The Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) smaller constituent parties, especially those from Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), already suggested Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during the recent allied parties meetings to de-escalate the situation and to forge a way out of this morass.

A cabinet member belonging to the allied party from Balochistan said that they had requested the PML-N not to take the country to the point of no-return.

He said that opposition parties even in the past had never tried to de-escalate the situation as it was taken to be the responsibility of those in power to ensure a smooth sail. The PML-N, finding all the stars aligned in its favour, was taking a very undemocratic position which would ultimately prove to be counter-productive for the entire country, he added.

In the first phase, the committee met with leader of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), Federal Minister Shahzain Bhugti, according to the one of the committee members.

It was informed that by another two to three days, all remaining political parties would be engaged for the purpose.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Kaira told The Express Tribune that the purpose of this exercise was to convince all allied parties to agree to a possibility of a dialogue.

He said that a way out of political crisis was urgently needed for the betterment of the country, and dialogue was that way.

When asked about the PTI’s demand to agree to elections, the PPP leader said that ultimately elections would be held, so that demand could become the basis of dialogue. However, he clarified that holding a dialogue with the PTI would be the next stage, and the first stage was to convince coalition partners to agree to a dialogue.

When asked if the PML-N led government was working out a legislation to cut short the tenure of the chief secretary, he said that they were not aware of the move.