File photo, courtesy PID
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will today (Tuesday) chair at the Prime Minister’s House a meeting of heads of parties comprising the ruling alliance to discuss the prevailing political situation and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI)’s offer to broker dialogue between the government and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The meeting, scheduled to take place in the afternoon, is expected to evolve consensus on the JI’s offer for a multi-party conference after Eidul Fitr to resolve the standoff between the PTI and the government and steer the country toward political stability. It is also likely that the meeting would discuss the Supreme Court’s order to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to release Rs. 21 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for the conduct of polls in Punjab.
Separately, a delegation of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on Monday approached the Awami National Party (ANP) in a bid to encourage dialogue between all political stakeholders to tackle the prevailing crises. Speaking with media after the meeting, PPP Senator Yousaf Raza Gilani said his party had approached the ANP for dialogue on the instructions of PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari.
Praising the ANP for its “sacrifices” to establish democracy and the rule of law in Pakistan, he stressed that the basic purpose of the Constitution was to enshrine the separation of powers between the various pillars of the state. He warned that collision between institutions—a reference to the ongoing standoff between the National Assembly and the Supreme Court—was not in the national interest.
To a question, Gilani said the PPP would soon approach the leaderships of Balochistan National Party (BNP), Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Balochistan Awami Party and others to encourage dialogue of all stakeholders.
ANP Secretary General Mian Iftikhar Hussain, meanwhile, described the meeting with the PPP as a “good” step, adding that all political parties should unite to ensure the supremacy of Parliament and non-interference of institutions in each other’s constitutional domains. He said the ANP planned to organize a multi-party moot on May 3 with the participation of all political parties, including the PTI, to resolve the current impasse.