The huddle of government allies on Tuesday held at the PM House ended without reaching any consensus on the issue of holding negotiations with the opposition PTI, but separately the parties met with one another to break the current political impasse.
The indecision was conspicuous with initial silence and then a rebuttal by the government spokesperson to the media reports, revealing details about the discussion that took place in the meeting of the ruling alliance.
On the one hand, sources revealed that the ruling alliance was not on the same page when it comes to holding talks with the PTI while, on the other, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb refuted all such sources-based reports, saying the reports of differences among the coalition partners were “wrong” and “baseless”.
In the meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, sources said that the coalition parties took a stand that the supremacy of parliament would be maintained at any cost, saying the ruling alliance vowed that they would resist any attempt to undermine the authority of parliament.
During the meeting, the sources said, PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari insisted on holding negotiations with the PTI on the issue of elections, contending that closing the doors to talks was not only against his party’s principles but also undemocratic and unpolitical.
The sources maintained that the PPP chairman added that it was the need of the hour to take the path of dialogue to bring the country out of its current crises.
The officials privy to the developments claimed that the MQM-P, BNP-M, Balochistan Awami Party’s Khalid Magsi, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Salik Hussain, National Democratic Movement’s Mohsin Dawar and others backed Bilawal’s stance.
However, the JUI-F opposed talks with the PTI, claiming that its chairman and former premier Imran Khan was not a “political force”.
The sources also revealed that Shahzain Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party opined that he was not against the process of dialogue but Imran was a liar and could not be trusted.
Soon after the media started reporting about the stance of different parties in the ruling coalition’s meeting, the information minister issued a statement, refuting the report of differences among the coalition partners.
“The speculations in the media about the meeting of the ruling parties are baseless and wrong,” she said.
Marriyum said that all the parties in the ruling alliance were “united” and there was no truth in the false reports about its meeting.
“Speculations being made in some section of the media about the meeting of ruling parties are baseless and incorrect,” she said in a news statement.
The minister regretted that the media started airing news regarding the meeting by attributing to leaders of allied parties even prior to the issuance of the final communiqué. She said that the decisions were being taken with the input of all the parties which were united.
“Consultation is under way and a joint communiqué [of the meeting] will be issued," she added.
The ongoing political and legal impasse intensified after PTI chief Imran had dissolved both the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assemblies in January this year in a bid to force the incumbent government to hold snap elections.
However, the incumbent rulers have been reluctant to cave in to the former ruling party’s demand.
Earlier on Tuesday, an ANP delegation reached the Parliament Lodges to meet the MQM-P leaders. The ANP delegation comprised its senior leaders Mian Iftikhar Hussain and Zahid Khan and they met with MQM-P MNAs Usama Qadri and Salahuddin as well as other party leaders.
The two sides exchanged views on the current political situation.
After the meeting, Iftikhar said the MQM-P had given a “positive response”.
The senior ANP leader pointed out that parliament was the framer of the Constitution. “Parliament is supreme. The supremacy of the Constitution must be accepted and all institutions should work according to [it]. Whoever will take steps outside the Constitution will be a criminal of the nation,” he added.
Iftikhar noted that the conditions of the country had deteriorated and politicians were fixing it. He maintained that his party already had a plan and now more parties were joining it. “All problems will have to be solved through understanding,” he added.
MQM-P MNA Muhammad Abubakar told the media after the meeting that the ANP had convened an all-party conference (APC) on May 3 and invited his party to participate in it. He hoped that the APC would chalk out ways to pull the country out of its current political and financial crises.
Separately, the Jamaat-e-Islami is still trying to ease political tensions in the country.
JI central leader Liaquat Baloch met PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain at his residence in Lahore on Tuesday.
During the meeting, the JI leader requested the PML-Q chief to cooperate in reducing the ongoing political tensions in the country. In the meeting, it was also agreed to hold elections across the country on the same day.
Shujaat said his party wanted to end the political crisis so that the country could move forward.
He maintained that it was for the first time that the institutions were in conflict with each other and these conditions were not suitable for the country.
PML-Q chief organiser Chaudhry Sarwar said elections should be held on the same day to end the current political crisis. He added that the economic situation of the country could not afford repeated elections.
Sarwar was of the view that the politicians should think of raising the living standards of the people. (With input from our correspondent in Lahore)
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