The high political drama that had kept millions glued to their TV screens in their homes and several thousand camped near Parliament House in Islamabad for the last four days ended with a whimper on Thursday when the government successfully brokered a face saving deal with Tehreek Minhajul Quran chief Dr Tahirul Qadri, leaving things mostly as they were.
Despite concerns that the mass protest could derail the upcoming general elections, or even augur a military coup, the dramatic sit-in ended with an agreement that granted few of the demands originally made by the ‘revolution seeking cleric’, Qadri.
A 10-member government delegation, including leaders of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party’s coalition partners, brokered the deal with Qadri at his bomb-proof container after nearly five hours of deliberations.
But Qadri’s demands for the dissolution of parliament, the resignation of the government and the re-constitution of the Election Commission were skilfully ignored in a signed agreement between the two sides that ruled out any major changes to the electoral process.
The government told Qadri that his demand of reconstituting the Election Commission could be discussed again on Jan 27 in Lahore, as the law did not permit dissolution of the commission and a new amendment in the constitution was required to this effect. Nor was there any mention of Qadri’s demand that the army and judiciary – two institutions he has showered with praise – should play a role in selecting the caretaker administration that will run the country for up to three months after the government reaches the end of its five-year term on March 16.
Instead, an Islamabad Long March Declaration signed by the two sides promised Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) a consultative role in choosing a caretaker prime minister. The PAT has been allowed to propose two names for caretaker prime minister but legal experts have ruled out any significance of this concession by the government.
“TuQ (Tahirul Qadri) and the PM can agree on two names for caretaker PM. Then PM and the opposition leader can ignore those names and propose other names to the parliamentary committee,” Salman Akram Raja, an expert on constitutional matters, tweeted after the deal was announced.
ISLAMABAD DECLARATION:
Qadri apparently made the government agree on implementation of Article 62 and 63 in letter and spirit, one of his major demands throughout the sit-in.
According to the declaration, the potential candidates would be filtered and required to get clearance under Articles 62, 63 and 218 (Section 3) and Representation of People Act 1976, as the Election Commission would set one-month’s time to scrutinise their eligibility.
According to the declaration, the present National Assembly would be dissolved anytime before the completion of its tenure on March 16. The elections would take place within 90 days and scrutiny would be held 30 days before the election campaigns start.
QADRI ECSTATIC:
Reading the agreement signed by Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Qadri and other members of committee, the Minhajul Quran chief congratulated the nation and his supporters, calling it a great victory for democracy, the marchers and the nation.
He also congratulated the ruling coalition for what he called the successful culmination of the long march.
Following the successful talks, the crowd of over 50,000 followers of Dr Qadri turned festive and chanted slogans in favour of their leader and waved national flags. The mammoth gathering dispersed peacefully later after the government assured them transportation back home.
An hour before the government announced the decision to form a committee comprising Shujaat Hussain and Senator Mushaid Hussain of the PML-Q, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira, Senior Minister Syed Khurshid Shah and Law Minister Farooq H Naik of the PPP, Afrasiab Khattak of the ANP, and Babar Ghauri and Dr Farooq Sattar of the MQM to defuse the situation, Qadri had given a final deadline for his demands to be fulfilled.
He warned the government that if his demands were not fulfilled within the set deadline, the government would lose the last chance of saving peace.
“We have already given too many chances to law, to democracy and to peace,” he said.
On Tuesday, Qadri’s supporters had gone into raptures when news broke that the Supreme Court had ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to arrest APrime Minister Ashraf in the rental Power Projects scandal.
That announcement convinced Qadri’s supporters, and most observers, that there was an establishment conspiracy to bring down the government and scupper hopes that Pakistan, for the first time in its history, would see the transfer of power between two democratically elected governments.