Political standoff: Zardari’s panacea - dialogue, dialogue and dialogue

After meeting PM, cabinet ministers, JI chief, PML-Q leaders, Zardari says PPP supports democracy, not any individual.

LAHORE:

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday prescribed dialogue as the safest way to end the country’s latest political impasse  even as Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters are staying put in the federal capital and their leaders persevere in their demand for the prime minister to step down.

“Dialogue, dialogue and more dialogue as democracy and dialogue are inseparable and everyone should follow this path,” Zardari said while speaking at a news conference after a whirlwind tour of Lahore where he met embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his top aides over lunch and had brief meetings with Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Sirajul Haq and the Chaudhrys of Gujrat.

“I’m for Pakistan, not for any particular person,” said Zardari whose PPP is the largest opposition party in parliament. He added that he has been in contact with leaders of all political parties as he wanted to see a strong parliament. “[During the previous PPP government] I’d voluntarily handed over all powers to parliament in accordance with the wishes of the late Benazir Bhutto.”

Zardari said that PTI chairman Imran Khan and PAT leader Dr Tahirul Qadri have some reservations which should be solved through dialogue. He voiced hope that political forces would find a way out of the current standoff.

At the same time, Zardari said that all demands of the protesting parties should be within the ambit of the Constitution. “It’s the mandate of parliament to complete its five-year [constitutional] term,” he said in an apparent reference to the PAT and PTI demand for the dissolution of all assemblies. He said democracy should not be derailed through street agitation. He advised the PTI-led government in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) not to agitate against the federal government.



On Friday, all PTI lawmakers submitted their resignations from federal and provincial legislatures, except K-P where the party has a coalition government. Asked about the PTI move, Zardari said it was their decision and he wouldn’t comment on that.

The PPP co-chairman trivialised a question about the twin sit-ins being part of a conspiracy against the PML-N government. “Politics [itself] is part of a conspiracy,” he said in a lighter vein.

Referring to the defeat of his party in the 2013 parliamentary polls, Zardari said that the “PPP believes in electoral politics and after the election it stops politicking.” The PPP had conceded its defeat despite reservations about the results and handed over power to the PML-N to ensure the first democratic transition in the history of Pakistan. “Look at the [developed democracies like] the United States where everyone accepts the election results [even if they have reservations],” he added.

The former president also spoke about the challenges the PPP government had to face during its five-year tenure. “We didn’t promote negative politics even though foul language was used [against PPP leadership and government] by some people in Punjab,” he added.

Zardari evaded a barrage of questions about the PAT, PTI demand for the prime minister to step down saying that it was parliament’s mandate. Asked if the PPP would support a ‘minus-one formula’, he said, “No politician could entertain such a hypothetical question.”

When asked if he had to choose between saving the prime minister and saving democracy who he would opt for, Zardari said, “When the bridge comes, I’ll cross it.” When another questioner asked if he foresaw the prime minister quitting, he said, “I’m not a soothsayer. It’s parliament that wishes to solve this [political] standoff.”

There has been much speculation about the ‘third umpire’ that Imran Khan has referred to in his recent speeches, with some political circles interpreting it as a reference to the powerful security establishment. Zardari was also asked about this during his news conference. “We don’t want the issue to go to the ‘third umpire’ as we know how to solve it politically.”

Earlier Asif Zardari had a sumptuous lunch at the Jati Umra residence of Premier Nawaz Sharif. The lunch was followed by talks where Zardari was assisted by senior senior-most party cadres including Senator Raza Rabbani, leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah, Senator Aitzaz Ahsan and Senator Rehman Malik, while Federal Ministers Ishaq Dar, Khawja Asif, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Abdul Qadir Baloch facilitated the prime minister.

Zardari said that he has advised Premier Nawaz and his aides to resolve the political standoff through dialogue. He hoped that the two protesting parties would soften up in their demands over the course of time and a solution acceptable to both sides would be worked out. The Express Tribune has learnt that the two sides also agreed to form a parliamentary committee and task it with holding dialogue with the PAT and PTI leaderships.

The PPP co-chairman said that he has convened a meeting of his party’s Central Executive Committee on Monday in Karachi where he would discuss his interactions in Lahore.

Ministers’ press conference

After the Jati Umra meeting, Federal Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar claimed that Zardari was clear that the prime minister’s resignation was out of question. “The PPP reiterated its stance which it voiced in parliament to continue on the path of democracy and supremacy of the constitution and parliament. They will stand with the PML-N,” he said.

Dar said that Zardari’s visit reflected the PPP’s commitment to the rule of law, democracy and supremacy of parliament and that it supported all other political parties’ stance on solving all problems within ambit of the constitution. He said that the PML-N thanked Zardari for his support to the PML-N for rule of law and democracy.

The finance minister said negotiations with the PAT and PTI were under way. The government has already formed a judicial commission for investigating electoral fraud allegations and an electoral reforms committee for overhauling the election process, he said, adding that all six demands of the PTI could be met through these two steps of the government.

Referring to the ongoing protest sit-ins, the finance minister said that the dharnas have pushed the economy months back and caused cancellation of visits by foreign dignitaries.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said that the government supported all constitutional demands of the PTI. According to him, Zardari believes resignation by the prime minister would mean weakening the state. Railway Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the PPP reiterated that the demands of Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri were equivalent to an attack on the Constitution, parliament and democracy.

JI ameer’s media talk

JI Ameer Sirajul Haq said that the PPP co-chairman has asked him that a four-member PPP committee would contact him in the coming days to devise a strategy to break the political logjam. He said it was a good omen that neither the Supreme Court nor the military establishment has intervened to resolve the crisis. Haq advised the PTI lawmakers to withdraw their resignations. A four-member JI committee would approach the National Assembly speaker and ask him to delay the acceptance of the resignations.

PML-Q viewpoint

About their meeting with Zardari, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat said that they have conveyed to the PPP co-chairman that Nawaz Sharif has the choice to either save the system or his post. Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi told the media that in the meeting with Zardari they reiterated their demands that assemblies should be dissolved and a national government formed.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2014.