ISLAMABAD: As parliament completed the first week of its joint sitting on Monday under the shadow of a protest siege, a senator who usually speaks for Pakistan People’s Party leader Asif Ali Zardari proposed a secret dialogue between parliamentary political and military leadership to find a permanent solution to what he called their “perennial tussle”.

The idea from Senator Farhatullah Babar for the dialogue through standing committees on defence of the two houses of parliament was one of six points he advanced as a “way forward” to resolve the present standoff threatening Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government since the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek began their sit-ins, in Islamabad 25 days ago.

“Let us hold a face-to-face in-camera dialogue” between the civilian political leadership and representatives of the army-led “establishment”, he said, proposing that Senator Mushahid Hussain of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Q or Senator Raza Rabbai, PPP parliamentary leader in the upper house who previously headed a parliamentary committee on national security, head a joint committee of the two houses to have “a serious and meaningful dialogue with the military leadership on what he called “simmering issues in the perennial tussle” between the two sides since the creation of Pakistan.

He blamed the present situation, which the joint sitting of the National Assembly and Senate are debating since Sept 2 on the government’s refusal to meet the PTI’s original demand for an audit of only four National Assembly constituencies in Punjab and register a PAT complaint over a June 17 police shooting in Lahore that killed at least 14 PAT followers, as well as shows of arrogance by government ministers.

But, in line with the PPP’s present policy to support the prime minister to the hilt against the protesters’ demand that he resign from his office at least for a month for a free probe by a judicial commission of alleged massive rigging of last year’s general elections, he had no sympathy for the protest as well.

In his first proposal, he wanted the house to condemn the sit-ins in a resolution as non-political and unconstitutional “manifestation of a deeper malaise involving distorted relationship” between the civilian leadership and the so-called establishment.

Other points of Senator Babar included demands for the government to withdraw its notification issued in July invoking article 245 of the Constitution to call in troops in Islamabad without a judicial oversight, meaningful and expeditious electoral reforms, and implementation of four un-implemented articles, addressing civil-military relations, of the famous Charter of Democracy signed by Mr Sharif and assassinated PPP leader Benazir Bhutto in 2006.

Alluding to references made to some unspecified scriptwriters of the present standoff during the debate, which began on Sept 2, he said parliament should beseech these scriptwriters, if any, with folded hands to “fold this circus”.

On a day when Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said he would consult Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari to refer complaints of recent attacks on media offices and staff, to standing committees of the two house on information, Senator Babar’s six points included one calling for a resolution of complaints of the private Geo television channel

Senator Babar Khan Ghori of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), whose lawmakers came to the joint sitting after days of absence amid reports that they might resign their seats as done by more than 30 National Assembly of the PTI, urged house members to refrain from blaming army or any other national institution for the present crisis and advised the government to show restraint to break the present deadlock in talks with the protest leaders.

Earlier, the speaker disagreed with MQM’s Senator Nasreen Jalil for a prorogation of the house to allow lawmakers to go to their constituencies to help flood sufferers and said the session would continue.

There has been no official word about how long the session would last, but parliamentary sources said it would continue as long as PTI and PAT sit-ins lasted.

Senator Mushahidullah Khan, parliamentary leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-N, told Dawn the session could continue until Sept 19.

Published in Dawn, September 9th , 2014