Senate session: Rabbani presses for update on talks

Leader of House Raja Zafarul Haq says once talks take some shape, govt will be able to take parliamentarians on board.

ISLAMABAD:

As talks progress between the government’s and the Tehreek-e-Taliban’s committees, opposition groups in the Senate complained that parliament has been left out in the cold, with no word on development of the negotiations.

Opposition parties said that they supported dialogue as long as it remains strictly within the ambit of the constitution. The ANP’s Haji Adeel expressed his reservations over a statement by a member of the Taliban’s committee who has said he does not accept the constitution.

PPP Senator Raza Rabbani demanded that an in-camera session of parliament update public representatives about the progress of dialogue, adding that a joint parliamentary committee should be formed and briefed every day on the talks; senators from across the political spectrum seconded the motion. “Liberal, democratic and left wing forces of the country have been excluded from the entire process,” Rabbani said.

Leader of House Raja Zafarul Haq assured the House that talks will be held within the framework of the Constitution. He said the process was at a nascent stage, and once the talks take some shape, the government will be able to take parliamentarians on board.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11^th, 2014.