Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to hold talks with his allies on the political and security situation, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the province run by his archrival, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), as his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government faces several planned protests, reports DAWN.
A source in the prime minister’s office told Dawn that Sharif was likely to meet President Asif Ali Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), to discuss imposing governor’s rule in KP, apparently because of rising terrorism.
The talks come ahead of a PTI march on Islamabad due to begin on 4 October.
Bilawal’s party has been invited to a planned opposition multiparty gathering.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi recently called on Zardari in Karachi, a visit seen as significant given the debate over governor’s rule.
Sharif then decided to brief the president and the PPP.
Rana Sanaullah, the prime minister’s adviser on political affairs, said on television that Sharif was briefed soon after returning from the United States and told the government reserved the right to impose an emergency under the Constitution.
In the past week, the KP government has been warned that the federal government would have no other option but to impose governor’s rule, given the security situation and the PTI’s protest call.
The PTI has warned of dire consequences.
Sharif may also meet National Assembly opposition leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai to defuse the crisis.
Before leaving for the United States, he invited Achakzai to consultations on national issues and matters concerning the PTI.
A meeting before the march begins would bear fruit for the government.
Sharif is also expected to meet Jamaat-i-Islami leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman to discuss the petroleum levy.
Naeemur Rehman has warned he will resume his march in the first week of October if talks fail.
On Wednesday, the PPP’s Sherry Rehman and Syed Naveed Qamar met Law Minister Azam Nazir Tarar and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry in the National Assembly speaker’s chamber to discuss KP’s fate.
Tarar told reporters at Parliament House that an emergency was also discussed, and that governor’s rule was a constitutional right to be used when the situation required it.
“In KP, people are martyred every day,” he added.
Chaudhry said an emergency under Article 232 of the Constitution was being considered because of terrorism in the province, not for political reasons.
He claimed the PPP would support all government decisions on security.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq then met Sharif, apparently to discuss legislation due in parliament and to relay the PPP’s stance on governor’s rule in KP.
A source in the National Assembly secretariat told Dawn that the PPP and the government discussed four bills for the coming session, amending the Port Qasim Authority, Gwadar Port Authority, Karachi Port Authority and Life Insurance Nationalization laws.
The PPP agreed to three and rejected one, the source said.
Another source said the bills were related to International Monetary Fund directives.
Earlier, PPP leader Nayyar Bukhari said the party would offer recommendations within the Constitution and the law if asked for its view on governor’s rule, apparently aimed at controlling the PTI.
He said the Constitution provided a course of action if a provincial government failed to meet its responsibilities.
He called the security situation in KP “extremely alarming”, saying residents in parts of the province, including the chief minister’s home district, were forced to stay indoors after dark.
He said the PTI’s priorities appeared focused on the release of one individual rather than public issues, and voiced concern over the use of provincial resources for the march and of government authority for political ends.
The PPP had always believed in dialogue, Bukhari said, and had held talks even with its fiercest political opponents because national issues could be resolved through dialogue rather than force and confrontation.
