Crucial times: Amid talk of operation, PM addresses NA today
Nawaz holds consultations with army chief and K-P chief minister.
“If Chief Justice Chaudhry was in office now, he would have struck down the PPO the next day,” says Rana Sanaullah. PHOTO: ONLINE
ISLAMABAD:
The moment of reckoning is at hand for the country.
A sense of anticipation is in the air as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is all set to address the National Assembly today on the security situation in the country for the first time following a spate of high-profile attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The premier’s address to the National Assembly, his first in over half a year, comes on the heels of high-level consultations over the last few days – most notably with Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, whom he met for the second time in five days on Tuesday.
The latest meeting follows the one on Thursday wherein the army chief was asked to come up with a comprehensive battle plan against the TTP that had launched a spate of attacks at a time the government seemed resolute on pursuing peace talks.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the two discussed the matter of peace talks and the prime minister took the army chief’s input on the TTP’s fresh offer for dialogue, according to a statement by the Prime Minister House. The offer comes as fighter jets have already begun limited bombing of suspected Taliban hideouts in the tribal belt.
The meeting between the premier and the army chief came a day after Nawaz chaired a meeting of his party’s parliamentarians wherein the consensus was for a full-fledged military operation. The prime minister did not attend the National Assembly session following the party meeting – but will do so following his meeting with Gen Raheel Sharif, who was informed of the ruling party’s consensus on the matter of launching a military operation.
“Yes, the PM will attend the NA session and give a speech (tomorrow),” the parliamentary secretary of information ministry Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha confirmed to The Express Tribune.
The address would be about government’s polices with regard to its strategy regarding dealing with the menace of terrorism and on the challenges on economic fronts. However, he said the contents of his speech were unknown at this point.
Earlier on Tuesday, the prime minister also held a meeting with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and discussed the matter and underlined the need of unity of amongst all stakeholders, including provincial governments.
Response to talks
“The fresh offer [by the TTP] can be a ploy and we are examining it,” a senior government official told The Express Tribune. He said there was a trust deficit. “We were in talks with some groups of the Taliban who provide human resource to the TTP but some back to back events just derailed and sabotaged the entire process,” he added.
Referring to the PML-N’s parliamentary party meeting, he said the recent events created a feeling amongst the masses that the government should launch a military operation. This message was conveyed by the elected representatives of the PML-N to its leadership, he added.
However, he said that the decision would be taken after consultation with all the stakeholders and there was a possibility of another round of discussions with the PML-N members. He said the prime minister was likely to address the nation and announce the government’s plan of action at the earliest and would not go beyond the next week.
Operation decided
Rana Sanaullah, the law minister of Punjab and one of the prime minister’s closest confidants, meanwhile, said a decision had been made to launch a military operation but the army would be left to decide exactly what form any operation would take.
Similarly, he said that to protect Punjab, ‘operations’ will be mounted in 174 areas of the province where communities of Pashtuns have settled. “We feel apprehension that they will retaliate in Punjab,” Sanaullah told the Guardian in an interview.
Opposition politicians have warned that the new controversial anti-terror law – the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) – could turn the country into a ‘police state’.
Sanaullah said: “This should have been done 10 years ago. Even if it is 5% misused, then we must support it anyway because without it there is no chance that you can fight terrorists.” Pakistani law-enforcement agencies have long been accused of illegally detaining ‘missing persons’ for years on end and abusing prisoners in their custody. “I think what will be done will be no worse than what has happened in Guantánamo Bay,” Sanaullah said when asked about the risk of terror suspects being tortured.
He said the government’s new stance on militancy had to wait for the retirement of three critical figures late last year: that of former president Asif Ali Zardari, former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and former army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
“If Chief Justice Chaudhry was in office now, he would have struck down the PPO the next day,” Sanaullah said. He also claimed Kayani had been unwilling to tackle the TTP, despite persistent claims by military sources that the former army chief was frustrated by the lack of action.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2014.
The moment of reckoning is at hand for the country.
A sense of anticipation is in the air as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is all set to address the National Assembly today on the security situation in the country for the first time following a spate of high-profile attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The premier’s address to the National Assembly, his first in over half a year, comes on the heels of high-level consultations over the last few days – most notably with Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif, whom he met for the second time in five days on Tuesday.
The latest meeting follows the one on Thursday wherein the army chief was asked to come up with a comprehensive battle plan against the TTP that had launched a spate of attacks at a time the government seemed resolute on pursuing peace talks.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the two discussed the matter of peace talks and the prime minister took the army chief’s input on the TTP’s fresh offer for dialogue, according to a statement by the Prime Minister House. The offer comes as fighter jets have already begun limited bombing of suspected Taliban hideouts in the tribal belt.
The meeting between the premier and the army chief came a day after Nawaz chaired a meeting of his party’s parliamentarians wherein the consensus was for a full-fledged military operation. The prime minister did not attend the National Assembly session following the party meeting – but will do so following his meeting with Gen Raheel Sharif, who was informed of the ruling party’s consensus on the matter of launching a military operation.
“Yes, the PM will attend the NA session and give a speech (tomorrow),” the parliamentary secretary of information ministry Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha confirmed to The Express Tribune.
The address would be about government’s polices with regard to its strategy regarding dealing with the menace of terrorism and on the challenges on economic fronts. However, he said the contents of his speech were unknown at this point.
Earlier on Tuesday, the prime minister also held a meeting with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak and discussed the matter and underlined the need of unity of amongst all stakeholders, including provincial governments.
Response to talks
“The fresh offer [by the TTP] can be a ploy and we are examining it,” a senior government official told The Express Tribune. He said there was a trust deficit. “We were in talks with some groups of the Taliban who provide human resource to the TTP but some back to back events just derailed and sabotaged the entire process,” he added.
Referring to the PML-N’s parliamentary party meeting, he said the recent events created a feeling amongst the masses that the government should launch a military operation. This message was conveyed by the elected representatives of the PML-N to its leadership, he added.
However, he said that the decision would be taken after consultation with all the stakeholders and there was a possibility of another round of discussions with the PML-N members. He said the prime minister was likely to address the nation and announce the government’s plan of action at the earliest and would not go beyond the next week.
Operation decided
Rana Sanaullah, the law minister of Punjab and one of the prime minister’s closest confidants, meanwhile, said a decision had been made to launch a military operation but the army would be left to decide exactly what form any operation would take.
Similarly, he said that to protect Punjab, ‘operations’ will be mounted in 174 areas of the province where communities of Pashtuns have settled. “We feel apprehension that they will retaliate in Punjab,” Sanaullah told the Guardian in an interview.
Opposition politicians have warned that the new controversial anti-terror law – the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) – could turn the country into a ‘police state’.
Sanaullah said: “This should have been done 10 years ago. Even if it is 5% misused, then we must support it anyway because without it there is no chance that you can fight terrorists.” Pakistani law-enforcement agencies have long been accused of illegally detaining ‘missing persons’ for years on end and abusing prisoners in their custody. “I think what will be done will be no worse than what has happened in Guantánamo Bay,” Sanaullah said when asked about the risk of terror suspects being tortured.
He said the government’s new stance on militancy had to wait for the retirement of three critical figures late last year: that of former president Asif Ali Zardari, former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and former army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
“If Chief Justice Chaudhry was in office now, he would have struck down the PPO the next day,” Sanaullah said. He also claimed Kayani had been unwilling to tackle the TTP, despite persistent claims by military sources that the former army chief was frustrated by the lack of action.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 29th, 2014.