Proposed amendment: Draft of constitutional cover finalised

PM Nawaz summons consultative session today, seeks broad support for military courts, National Action Plan


Abdul Manan January 02, 2015
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif chairing the National Action Plan follow-up meeting at the PM House on Thursday. PHOTO: PID

ISLAMABAD:


Top civilian and military leaders finalsed a blueprint for offering constitutional cover to military courts during a crunch meeting on Thursday, moving ahead with the roadmap for executing a 20-point National Action Plan, sources privy to the development told The Express Tribune.


Subsequently Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif summoned all the parliamentary leaders on Friday (today) so that he could take them into confidence and seek their unanimous support.

The prime minister is hoping to garner support for the draft of proposed constitutional amendment as well as the National Action Plan from an all parties conference attended by PPP co-chairman Zardari as well.

Following a few leaders’ objection on provision of constitutional cover/amendment to the proposed military courts to try civilian terrorists, PM Nawaz held hours-long meeting at the PM House.



Sources said that the civil-military heads decided that without constitutional amendment they would not establish military courts and representatives of both sides have hoped that Friday’s meeting would be fruitful and gain broad support from across the political spectrum.

If parliamentary leaders agree with the proposed draft of the government on military courts then it would be tabled in the National Assembly in the evening session, the sources added.

Last week, all political groupings endorsed the move to establish military courts but now the legal experts of at least three mainstream parties — Pakistan Peoples Party, Awami National Party and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf – have raised their voice against the procedure of forming military courts.

PM Nawaz along with federal ministers Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Ishaq Dar, Pervaiz Rashid, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Abdul Qadir Baloch and Governor Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Mehtab Khan Abbasi held the meeting with Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, DG ISI Lt General Rizwan Akhtar, DG ISPR Maj General Asim Bajwa and others.

According to official handout, the prime minister vowed to defeat terrorism and not get bogged down by it. “We will take the war to the hideouts of terrorists,” he said. He reiterated: “We’ll not only fight terrorism but will also prevent it.”

“We are engaged in efforts to make Pakistan a safer place, so that the masses can live with peace and without any fear.”

The prime minister also offered Fateha for the martyrs of Punjab Rangers and directed National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz to take up the issue with the Indian government.

Today’s consultative meeting will be attended by key cabinet ministers as well as four provincial chief ministers. Opposition leaders Asif Ali Zardari, Syed Khursheed Ahmed, Makhdoom Amin Faheem, PTI leaders Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, JUIF chief Fazlur Rehman, JI Ameer Sirajul Haq, ANP leaders Afrasiab Khattak, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, and PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, MQM’s Farooq Sattar, Hasil Khan Bizenjo, Aftab Sherpao and others.


Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2015.

COMMENTS (6)

raider | 9 years ago | Reply

@Asim: is it is possible to check each and every vehicle and each and every person in city definitely not it is ideology and teaching which is to be defeated

A-No.1 | 9 years ago | Reply

@Muhibb e watan: LoL. Indian trol most likely.

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