ISLAMABAD: The long-awaited negotiations to reach agreement on holding elections for the national and provincial assemblies on the same day finally began on Thursday at the Parliament House between a group of senior leaders from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and a committee of leaders representing the federal government.
Several senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) officials, including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Law Minister Azam Tarar, and Ayaz Sadiq, as well as leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Yousaf Raza Gillani and Naveed Qamar, have reportedly been nominated by the government to join the committee conducting the talks. Kishwar Zehra of the MQM-P is a member of the government-nominated committee as well. Meanwhile, the PTI is being represented by Vice Chairman of the PTI Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Attorney Ali Zafar, and Senior Leader Fawad Chaudhary.
As per reports, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has decided to skip the talks.
The development comes hours after Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani wrote separate letters to the leader of the house and the opposition to nominate members from both the treasury and opposition benches to constitute a special committee for holding political dialogue.
In the letter, the Senate chairman said that both leaders, Senator Ishaq Dar and Dr Shahzad Waseem, are requested to provide the names of four members for inclusion in the special committee within two days.
Sanjrani stated that the Senate of Pakistan, House of Federation, being a stabilising factor of the federation is constitutionally bestowed with the responsibility of protecting the national and political harmony vis-a-vis the national and public interest.
“By assuming this responsibility and taking note that the Parliament is the right and the only forum for the resolution of political issues, given the prevailing political and economic situation, a committee comprising of members of the Senate belonging to both sides of the aisle has been proposed to address the ongoing political and economic crisis, including the holding of general elections,” he furthered.
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The special committee is under the joint convenorship of the Leader of the House and the opposition and comprises members from each side.
The much-debated negotiations follow Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial’s comments that “courts cannot force political parties to hold negotiations”, stressing that the apex court merely sought adherence to the Constitution and an end to the impasse over the delay of elections.
The CJP’s comments came earlier in the day as the Supreme Court resumed hearing the case related to delay in Punjab polls.
Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Awan told the court that the Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani would form a committee comprising members from both sides of the aisle to evolve a consensus to hold elections of national and provincial assemblies on one date.
The three-judge bench suggested the political parties evolve consensus on one date for elections in the national interest, respect of the Constitution, and welfare of the people. “Otherwise,” the court feard, “things would stay the same”.
Last week, adopting a carrot and stick policy, the apex court had asked all political parties to evolve a consensus on the date for holding simultaneous general elections of the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies expeditiously; otherwise, the court had noted, its order regarding the Punjab Assembly elections on May 14 would come into force.
A day earlier, addressing separate huddles of the parties in the ruling coalition, the PML-N parliamentary party and cabinet, the premier said elections were an issue that needed to be decided in parliament and the appropriate time to conduct them was either in October or November.
