ISLAMABAD, May 18: The military government has started preparations for holding an All Parties Conference in a bid to garner political forces’ support in the backdrop of India’s threatening posture and mounting border tensions between the two arch rivals, credible sources told Dawn on Saturday.
The proposed APC, however, will only be possible after May 27, the sources said, adding “some important government coordinators were away from the country, hence the delay.”
It is not clear, though, whether the proposed APC will include all the pro- and anti-government parties, but the attitude of major political forces is positive.
Raja Zafarul Haq, Chairman PML(N), for instance, told Dawn that “we are fully conscious of our responsibility. It would be a threat to our own existence if there was one to our country.”
Most of the political parties, it may be mentioned, have declared full support to the government against enemy threats and proposed to the government to take the political leadership into confidence on the issue.
A PPP spokesman also expressed similar sentiments when asked whether his party would participate in the APC that may be convened by Musharraf government to ponder over the Indian threat.
The gathering of all political forces in the absence of an elected parliament has become all the more necessary in the wake of Indian parliament’s adoption of a unanimous resolution, giving Vajpaee government a free hand to “punish the terrorists.”
It has been decided that preliminary contacts may be made with the like-minded political leadership before preparing a final list of the invitees.
A pro-government alliance leader told Dawn that some of the opposition parties’ leaders had already been in contact with the government and they will not hesitate to attend the APC, whenever invited.
The sources said the government think tank would first consider whether to invite all the political parties, including the PML(N) and the PPP, or leave some of them in the first gathering. The government will also wait and analyze the proceedings of the Lahore APC under Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan before taking a further step.
