PM consulting aides as civil, military tiff remains unresolved

• Interior minister meets Nawaz again at PM House

The prime minister held a second successive meeting with his close aides in as many days on Saturday to evolve a consensus strategy to deal with the Dawn Leaks issue. However, no notification was issued till late Saturday to iron out the civil, military relations.

Informed sources have confided in Pakistan Today that the prime minister held several informal parleys with his close aides to assess what actions could be taken to alleviate the reservations of the military establishment over the issue.

“The situation looks complex, however, there is a likelihood that the interior ministry would issue a notification by Monday to resolve the civil, military tiff,” the sources said.

It merits mention here that out of fears of more controversy over the Dawn Leaks, the prime minister did not approve the entire report of the inquiry committee on Dawn Leaks and only para 18 of the report had been approved. But till date, neither the para 18 nor other parts of the report had been made public by the federal government till date.

The sources said the extensive meetings at the prime minister’s house reflected that despite a meeting between the prime minister and the army chief, the squabbling questions could not be addressed in letter and spirit; perhaps this was the reason that the government was still holding sessions to address the matter.

The sources said that the consultation process was a part of the process to evolve a strategy to take steps to address the concerns of the military establishment which believed that the notification issued by the prime minister’s house did not fall in line with the recommendations of the inquiry committee formed by the prime minister on Dawn Leaks.

“Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan met with the prime minister again today. He had also met the prime minister on Friday. The focus of discussion remained how to resolve the tiff with military establishment,” a source privy to the consultation process at the prime minister’s house said.

It is pertinent to mention here that soon after the crucial meeting between the army chief and prime minister, a notification was being expected to be issued by the Ministry of Interior. However, the source said that inordinate delay in issuance of the notification reflected that the stalemate could not be resolved. Another source said that a possible step to alleviate could have been to remove Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Fawwad Hassan Fawwad.

Some television channels also ran news that the prime minister had directed to send Fawwad Hassan Fawwad on long leave. However, the PM’s House late on Saturday night issued a rebuttal in this regard, stating that “rumours about Fawwad Hassan Fawwad going on leave are baseless.” The statement also said that the principal secretary had not applied for a leave.