ISLAMABAD: Like generals of a victorious army, the heads of parliamentary parties who had stood by the government against Imran Khan’s 126-day sit-in deliberated on Wednesday on the way the lawmakers of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf should be treated in the National Assembly.

In contrast to the peak days of last year’s sit-in, the participants of the meeting were extremely relaxed and some even shared jokes about how the PTI demonstration had met its fate as a result of the three-judge poll inquiry commission’s report, said a government functionary who had also witnessed such meetings last year.

During the meeting which lasted over two hours, the participants congratulated each other for what they claimed to be their historical decision to oppose the PTI’s march against parliament.

The meeting concluded with the formation of a four-member committee to hold talks with the MQM and JUI-F which have moved motions for de-seating PTI lawmakers from the National Assembly.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had convened the meeting in view of the assembly’s expected vote on the motions which contended that since the PTI members had been absent from the lower house for more than 40 days, they ceased to be its member under the law.

While most of the participants were in favour of letting the PTI legislators stay in the assembly in interest of democracy, leaders of the MQM and JUI-F and a significant number from the ruling PML-N, though in murmurs, openly opposed the idea and argued in favour of throwing the PTI members out of the assembly.

The JUI-F and MQM leaders referred to Article 64 (II) of the Constitution which says that a house may declare a seat vacant if its occupant fails to attend its proceedings for 40 consecutive days.

JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was particularly aggressive. “I am still to hear from anyone in the PTI expressing remorse on quitting assemblies, and neither they have formally withdrawn their resignations,” a participant quoted the Maulana as saying.

The MQM leaders came up with the same argument.

“What they (PTI MNAs) have done to democracy in general and the parliament in particular; this is the time to teach them a lesson,” a participant from the ruling side was quoted as saying.

There was also a proposal to keep the status quo in place and keep reminding them (PTI lawmakers) of their follies.

Irfan Siddiqui, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Affairs who attended the meeting, told Dawn that not only the MQM and JUI-F, many in the PML-N were also in favour of invoking Article 64 (II) of the Constitution against the PTI lawmakers.

“While asking the MQM and JUI-F leaders to take back their motions, the prime minister told them that there is a difference of opinion even within the PML-N over the issue, but for the larger interest of the country we must move forward,” he said.

Mr Siddiqui, who is part of the four-member committee, said the government was trying its best to resolve the matter amicably.

“In the evening, I and Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid will have a detailed meeting with the JUI-F chief and we are hopeful that by Tuesday when the motions are due for voting the government will be able to persuade the two parties to withdraw the motions,” he said.

When asked that while being in majority and being supported by the PPP, the government could have easily voted out the motions why it was delaying the matter, Mr Siddiqui said: “The government is against voting on the motions because this will give the impression of a house divided on the matter.”

Senator Mushahid Hussain, who represented the PML-Q at the meeting, told Dawn that he had reminded those insisting on the removal of the PTI lawmakers from the assembly of how the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto during his peak days in power got the National Awami Party banned from the Supreme Court and how the events later led to imposition of martial law in the country and the rest was history.

Politicians should opt for political decisions and not legal means to settle such issues.

Mr Hussain said Jamaat-i-Islami Emir Sirajul Haq and PakMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai had called for forgetting the bitter past.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Ahmed Shah wasn’t available for comment, but sources privy to the meeting said he warned the government against drawing out the issue. “Any further delay on deciding the status of PTI MNAs will only reflect poorly on the treasury benches and strengthen the suspicions of those who believe the government also deliberately wants to prolong the issue,” he was quoted as saying.

A close aide to the prime minister told Dawn that since the MQM and JUI-F had their own personal scores to settle with the PTI, they wanted the government to at least prolong the matter for further humiliation of Imran Khan and his party.

But the aide said the prime minister wanted to end the matter as early as possible and he was even ready to make a request on the floor of house to the MQM and JUI-F to take back their motions.

When asked why her party’s lawmakers had not formally withdrawn their resignations, PTI MNA and spokesperson for the PTI chairman, Dr Shireen Mazari, said that since the National Assembly speaker had publically ruled on the issue, there was no need for that.

An official handout on the meeting said the prime minister had constituted a four-member committee comprising Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique and Irfan Siddique and directed them to contact the JUI-F and MQM leaders and persuade them to withdraw their motions against the PTI MNAs.

He said the nation had moved forward in its democratic journey and the unity of political leadership to safeguard national interest would be a significant factor in the evolution of political process.

Prime Minister Sharif requested Maulana Fazlur Rehman and representatives of the MQM to withdraw their motions.

According to the handout, the two parties told the prime minister that they would communicate their decisions after consultations with their parties.

Khurshid Ahmed Shah (PPP), Maulana Fazlur Rehman (FUI-F), Sirajul Haq (JI), Abdul Rashid Godil, Khalid Maqbool and Kanwar Navid Jamil (MQM), Ghulam Ahmed Bilour (ANP), Mushahid Hussain (PML-Q), Mehmood Khan Achakzai (PakMAP), Ijazul Haq (PML-Z), Ghous Buksh Mehr (PML-F) and Dr Gazi Gulab Jamal from Fata attended the meeting.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2015

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