Nawaz’s volte-face

Never had so quick a volte-face been made by Mian Nawaz Sharif. It’s a pleasant surprise to hear from him that the elected government should complete its mandated tenure which marks a clear departure from his continuous demand for the PPP regime’s early dismissal.
Talking to a private television channel the PML(N) Chief rightly pointed out that the political leadership needed to learn from the mistakes committed in the past and all stakeholders should sit together to sort out the problems being faced by the country. That the opposition and parliament be made part of the proposed consultation is fine. But his suggestion to also include the services chiefs and military’s intelligence agencies in the process aimed at reformulating national policy raises more questions than it has answered.
It is a step ahead of a proposal made by President Zardari’s last year about convening a roundtable conference to discuss national issues which was instantly shot down by the N League’s leadership on the ground that the army could not be considered a political stakeholder.
Mian Nawaz can, however, be given the benefit of the doubt for not having expressed himself properly. If he meant taking input from the armed forces before deliberating defence and foreign policy matters in parliament or between the government and opposition, then a proper procedure needs to be followed. Parliamentary Committees of the Senate and National Assembly on national security are appropriate forums for this purpose.
The problem is that instead of revitalising these committees, the government simply acquiesces to the idea of sending the parliamentarians to the General Headquarters for in-camera briefings on the security issues and other challenges. But the whole exercise can prove counterproductive if any of these parliamentary committees refuse to attend such briefings.
While Mian Nawaz’s observation about letting the government complete its tenure is welcome, the PML(N) must endeavour to establish the supremacy of parliament.