ISLAMABAD: A committee formed by Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold talks with the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and other opposition parties on Tuesday decided to directly contact Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Shehbaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in another attempt to thwart the anti-government Azadi March.
This was decided in a meeting of the government’s committee headed by Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak and comprising National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, PTI leader Asad Umer, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood and Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri.
During the meeting, the committee decided that Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani will contact Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan People’s’Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
“Pervaiz Elahi will engage Maulana Fazl,” a source privy to the development said.
Earlier in the day, head of the opposition’s Rehbar Committee Akram Durrani contacted Defence Minister Khattak and Senate chief Sanjrani to discuss the JUI-F’s Azadi March.
Durrani informed Khattak about the opposition’s demands and was told that the government committee would get back to the Rehbar Committee after consultation among themselves.
Earlier, a meeting agreed between Sadiq Sanjrani and JUI-F Secretary General Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri was called off after instructions from Maulana Fazl.
