Differences between the Pakistan People’s Party and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz continued to delay the passage of the 20th Constitutional Amendment Bill in parliament, as it could not be tabled for the fourth time on Monday even after the suspension of memberships of 28 legislators by the Supreme Court. Following the Supreme Court order, the PPP and PML-N, which suffered a major blow equally as most of the suspended members belonged to these parties, got engaged in hectic consultations to iron out their differences. However, the talks remained inconclusive and the leaders of all political parties would again meet today to thrash out differences on the next caretaker setup.
During the talks, the PPP and PML-N debated the important condition about installing neutral caretaker government under ‘meaningful consultation’ with the opposition leader in the National Assembly, but the deadlock hampered any headway. The PML-N leaders contacted Nawaz Sharif twice for fresh directions, a source told Pakistan Today. The source added that the government was reluctant to give a clear assurance to the opposition on the installation of a neutral caretaker setup in consultation with the leader of opposition in the National Assembly for upcoming elections. “The government offered that the prime minister may give assurance on the floor of the National Assembly. However, Nisar Ali Khan said his party had a bad experience and the prime minister had violated his assurance regarding the appointment of chairman of National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” the source added. The source added that the opposition wanted an amendment in the constitution about caretaker setup but the government viewed that this would be inappropriate.
“Opposition leader Nisar and Senator Ishaq Dar visited Nawaz Sharif on Monday and came direct from Lahore to attend another round of talks held at the opposition leader’s chamber at the Parliament House,” the source said. Raza Rabbani, Naveed Qamar and Khursheed Shah represented the government in dialogue while Ishaq Dar, Nisar, Khwaja Asif, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Zahid Hamid represented the PML-N.
JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and PPP-Sherpao chief Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao also took part in talks. The source said it had been decided in principle that the PML-N would support the 20th Amendment Bill and a formal announcement would likely be announced at a press conference to be held at Punjab House on Tuesday. The source said both sides had agreed on four conditions set by the PML-N, while only one condition was yet to be resolved.
“Both sides have made headway and the government has decided to handover the control of Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore to the Punjab government within a day or two. Moreover, the appointment of an independent chief election commissioner in consensus with the opposition leader would also be made soon,” the source added. The source said the PML-N leadership was also facing immense pressure from its parliamentarians elected during the period of incomplete election commission. Later, Nisar conceded that the government and opposition sides had entered a deadlock over the caretaker setup. He said the government wanted to give extension to the chief election commissioner Justice (r) Hamid Ali Mirza, who he claimed, was a close confidant of President Asif Ali Zardari.
“We are demanding an independent election commission since the past eight months but to no avail. We have been affected by rigged elections in past and this is why we are making this demand. Without our help, the government cannot resolve any issue,” he said. Asked whether the opposition stood divided during the talks, Nisar conceded that Sherpao had fully supported the PML-N’s viewpoint while Fazlur Rehman had supported his party’s demands slightly. Fazl said the consultation process would continue and differences would hopefully be resolved. Religious Affairs Minister Syed Khursheed Shah said that whenever the government and opposition entered a dialogue, they talked about the good of the country.
