Allies won’t let PPP have its way in NA

Under immense pressure from its two major coalition partners – the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) – the government is likely to change the original draft of a resolution today (Friday) or on Monday which had some “strong-worded” clauses against the judiciary and the army, and it would now simply express confidence in President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani with clauses against the judiciary and the armed forces being omitted.
A source told Pakistan Today on Thursday that the Awami National Party (ANP) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) had agreed to the draft of the resolution but following opposition from the PML-Q and the MQM leaders in the parliamentary parties meeting chaired by the prime minister, it was agreed that all clauses criticising either the judiciary or the army would be deleted.
The source said a committee, headed by Religious Affairs Minister and government’s chief negotiator Syed Khurshid Shah, was holding talks with the coalition partners to evolve consensus on contents of the resolution. However, the government had not shared the draft resolution with the heads of two coalition partners – the PML-Q and the MQM.
“Though both the PML-Q and MQM had reposed confidence in the president and the PM, they expressed conditional support to the government and warned that the resolution should be limited to expressing confidence in the president and the prime minister and no clause maligning the state institutions be included. However, there is a likelihood that a clause might be included in the resolution asking all the state institutions to work within their constitutional ambits. The resolution would also reiterate that parliament was supreme among all state institutions,” added the source.
PM UPSET: Another source said the PM was deeply upset with the remarks of the five-member bench questioning his integrity and there was a possibility that he might appear before the SC on January 16 and challenge the remarks.
The PM took the parliamentarians of the allied parties into confidence on the recent developments and he spoke his heart out about the confrontation with the judiciary and the army.
About a misunderstanding with the army chief, Gilani admitted that “some hawks on both sides have created misunderstandings which led to a chain of events creating hype”.
Gilani also said he was against adopting a confrontational path and some common friends had defused the situation in the past 24 hours. The source said the parliamentary party gave mandate to the leadership of the PML-Q, MQM and ANP to play their role in defusing the situation and bridge the gulf between the army chief and the prime minister and the president.
“Since the leaderships of the PML-Q, the MQM and the ANP called for defusing the situation and avoid confrontation between the state institutions, it was decided that Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Farooq Sattar and Asfandyar Wali Khan should play their role,” he said.
Another source said the issue of a resolution was not discussed in the business advisory meeting held on Thursday and there was no confirmation yet whether or not the same would be tabled today (Friday).
When contacted, an ANP leader confirmed that the draft of the PPP resolution had been shared with it and the party had decided to support it.
An MQM leader, however, said though President Zardari had contacted Altaf Hussain, the draft of the resolution had not been shared with the party so far. However, he said his party would not support any resolution targeting the army or the judiciary.
“We support the continuation of the democratic process and also want all state institutions to work in harmony. But we will not be a part of any sort of destabilisation. This is the message which was also conveyed to the PM during today’s parliamentary party meeting,” he said. A PML-Q leader said though the draft of the resolution was not shared with its leadership, there was likelihood that the resolution might be tabled in the assembly today. “We would make sure that all confrontational portions of the resolution, if any, are omitted,” he added. PPP Information Secretary Qamar Zaman Kaira, however, said no draft of the resolution had been finalised and consultations were going on with the allied parties. “I cannot give a cut date for resolution as nothing is final yet,” he said.
A BNP-Awami leader reiterated his party’s support to the coalition government and said his party “would support the government through thick and thin”.