ANP sponsored moot: Two dozen parties endorse peace talks with Taliban

Want anti-terror measures within ambit of Constitution.

ISLAMABAD:

As many as 24 political and religious parties on Thursday recommended that talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) should be the ‘first priority’ in any strategy to restore peace in the country.

In the joint declaration issued at the end of the all parties conference (APC) convened by the Awami National Party (ANP), the parties also agreed that any measures to resolve terrorism should lie within the ambit of the Constitution, and respect the country’s law and sovereignty.

The Pakistan Peoples Party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Sami (JUI-S) were among the parties attending the APC. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Jamaat-e-Islami opted against participating in the conference.

Participants of the APC recognised that militancy and violence were the entire country’s problem and not just that of one party or province. They also underlined that the country’s progress and survival depended on finding solutions to the problems it faced and observed that a sustained democratic political process would aid in doing so.



After reading out the declaration following the conference, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan told reporters that the declaration had been signed by all parties present at the conference. “Since the next government will likely be formed by parties among those who have signed the  declaration, the next government will take the initiative for implementing it,” he said. The ANP chief added that the declaration would be circulated among all concerned state institutions.

While a staggering 24 parties participated in the day-long in-camera conference, insiders say many of the participants questioned why the exercise was conducted at a time when the incumbent government’s term was about to end. At the same time, they also raised questions about the fate of parliamentary resolutions on the country’s security situation which were never implemented despite being passed unanimously.

Meanwhile, the APC appreciated the sacrifices of security personnel and civilians in maintaining peace in the country and asked both the federal and provincial governments to compensate the families of those killed in terrorist incidents. The conference also appreciated the efforts of the grand tribal jirga for restoring peace to the tribal areas.

According to Asfandyar, JUI-F leader Akram Khan Durrani has agreed to organise the next APC from his party’s platform.

“The issue of terrorism is not the responsibility of one party, it must be handled jointly,” Durrani maintained while talking to The Express Tribune.

JUI-S chief expresses doubts

Talking to media after attending the APC, JUI-S chief Maulana Samiul Haq said peace in the country cannot be restored without addressing the root causes of violence.

“Conferences and fatwas will not solve the issue of terrorism,” Haq told reporters. He maintained that ending US presence in Afghanistan was the key to root out terrorism from Pakistan.

Asserting that neither ANP nor the TTP were serious about holding talks, he said negotiations between the latter and the government should be held without any precondition.

Referring to US plans to withdraw forces from Afghanistan, Haq said that the government should follow Washington’s lead and end its conflict with the TTP. He added that his party would continue to support the Afghan Taliban in their ‘struggle against occupation forces’.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM NEWSDESK)


Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2013.