ISLAMABAD: After a gap of over 100 days, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif thought it appropriate on Friday to preside over a cabinet meeting and finish the pending official business which required its mandatory sanction. Last time, the cabinet met on June 3.

Obviously, the devastating floods which continue to wreak havoc in the country and the protest movement by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek against the government topped the meeting’s agenda.

The prime minister also took notice of overbilling by electricity companies. He endorsed dozens of bilateral MoUs and agreements.

By all means it was a tension-filled huddle as throughout the proceeding the prime minister pulled a long face and refrained from passing his usual witty comments, a participant told Dawn.

Fully understanding the prevailing mood, federal ministers too remained straightened in seats and listened to the prime minister in a pin-drop silence.

FLOODS: The meeting opened with a briefing by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman retired Maj Gen Mohammad Saeed Aleem. The meeting was told that so far 274 people had been killed in rain- and flood-related incidents and 43,000 houses damaged.

According to preliminary estimates, about 1.9 million people in 10 districts and 3,000 villages have been severally affected.

The army is assisting the civil administrations in rescue and relief operations.

After the briefing, there was a question-answer session. The NDMA officials were found short of satisfactory response when asked about their level of preparedness to meet such calamities. They, as normally happens during such situations, squarely put the blame on the former PPP government for its inconsistent policies towards the NDMA.

The issue of much-talked-about flood commission report (2010) also came under discussion. The prime minister sought a specific report as to why the commission’s recommendations for preventive measures had not been implemented.

He said his government would leave no stone unturned and take all possible measures to mitigate the affected people’s sufferings. He directed the authorities concerned to evaluate the damage caused by the floods. He also asked the NDMA to take measures to protect Sindh where floodwaters were expected to reach in a few days.

POLITICAL STALEMATE: The meeting also spent a considerable amount of time discussing government’s talks with the PTI and PAT and reported threats to their sit-ins on D-Chwok.

“My government is firmly committed to the dialogue process and believes that all issues can be resolved through talks,” the prime minister was quoted as saying. “All constitutional and legal demands of the PTI and PAT have been discussed and the government is ready to pay heed to such demands, but unconstitutional and illegal demands cannot be accepted.”

Mr Sharif said that since political parties across the board had supported his government both within parliament and outside, “any agreement with the protesting PTI and PAT leadership will be finalised only after their (political leadership) endorsement”.

A government official told Dawn that after securing unconditional support from the well-entrenched political forces, the ruling party would keep them on board in its talks with the PTI and PAT. It’s highly unlikely that the government will opt for some underhand deal with the protesters.

Interior Secretary Shahid Khan briefed the meeting on the law and order situation in Islamabad. When asked if the interior ministry had taken adequate measures for the security of Dr Tahirul Qadri and Imran Khan in view of reported terrorist attacks on the two sit-ins, he said police were unable to go near the containers of the two leaders.

After a detailed discussion, the meeting decided to give the interior ministry and Islamabad police free hand to handle security arrangements for the two gatherings.

The imposition of Section 144 in Islamabad and arrest of PAT and PTI workers were part of the new plan, an interior ministry official told Dawn.

ELECTRICITY BILLS: Reports of inflated electricity bills of domestic consumers over the past two months angered the prime minister who was quoted as saying: “The government is already facing a lot of problems on various fronts and you people are simply adding fuel to the fire.”

The prime minister directed Water and Power Secretary Nargis Sethi to determine what actually went wrong which led to the inflated billing. He constituted a special committee headed by his adviser Mussadiq Malik and asked it submit a detailed report on the matter.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014