ISLAMABAD, March 14: An apparently nervous government on Saturday formally offered in the National Assembly a dialogue to parliamentary opposition to implement the Charter of Democracy signed by two main parties but prorogued the house amid heightened tensions over the lawyers’ long march on Islamabad and iron-fisted means used to block it.

 In the conspicuous absence of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani from the house at a critical time, the offer of dialogue over the document signed by assassinated PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif in 2006 was made by Labour and Manpower Minister Khurshid Ahmed Shah after Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf called the lawyers’ planned protest sit-in Islamabad from Monday with the support of the PML-N and some other political groups as the latest of “conspiracies” aimed to destabilise the PPP-led coalition government.

 “I appeal to you to come and let us sit together to make this parliament strong,” said Mr Shah, who is also the PPP chief whip in the lower house after a reported overnight decision by a meeting chaired by President Asif Ali Zardari and Mr Gilani, and added: “This parliament will implement the CoD (Charter of Democracy) provided you come” (to dialogue).

 But the offer appeared part of belated palliatives to ease the prevailing turmoil, including a government decision to file a petition before the Supreme Court to review its last month’s ruling that disqualified Mr Nawaz Sharif and his younger brother and then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif from holding an elective public office, which was followed by President Asif Ali Zardari’s imposition of governor’s rule in the country’s most populous province.

The PPP ministers focused their criticism, as well as gestures, on the PML-N, which boycotted the house for the fourth day running, and had no olive branch for the lawyers who have planned an indefinite sit-in, or “dharna”, outside the parliament house in Islamabad to press their demand for reinstatement of all superior court judges sacked under a controversial emergency proclamation of Nov 3, 2007 issued by then military president Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Shah said deposed chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry could be reinstated and take his seniority if he took a new oath of office -- a course taken by most of bout 60 sacked judges of the Supreme Court and the provincial high courts to take their positions but rejected by the lawyers’ community and 11 remaining justices who deem the Nov 3 emergency imposed by Gen Musharraf in his capacity as army chief, rather than president, as unconstitutional yet to be ratified by parliament.

After some members of the opposition PML-Q lambasted the government for trying to stifle the lawyers’ protest through a nationwide crackdown against its critics and journalists staged a token walkout from the press gallery to protest against alleged blockage of, or interference with, the transmissions of two private television channels through cable operators in some parts of the country, only a junior minister had a word of hope for an early resolution of the worst political crisis facing the government in its 11-1/2 months of its life.

But nobody seemed to give much weight to the remark by Minister of State for Ports and Shipping Nabil Ahmed Gabol that “these issues and problems will be resolved within 48 hours”, because he is no confidant of President Zardari, who is generally seen as the final decision-maker as the effective leader of the ruling PPP as its co-chairman while the prime minister is perceived to be unable to assert his position as the constitutional chief executive.

As walls of containers erected outside the parliament house and other places in Islamabad to block the marchers on Monday presented a sombre look marring the advent of spring in the capital, two prominent PPP members – Raza Rabbani and Ms Sherry Rehman – won kudos from opposition benches for resigning as ministers of inter-provincial coordination and information and broadcasting respectively because of their differences of opinion in the prevailing situation.Though the government announced on Friday the acceptance of Mr Rabbani’s resignation mainly over the choice of law and justice minister Farooq H. Naek as Senate chairman, its parliamentary secretary for information and broadcasting Azim Daultana surprised the house by denying Ms Rehman’s resignation and the alleged action against TV channels, though an official announcement later confirmed Ms Rehman’s move.

Some members of the treasury benches seemed to be making a fun of themselves by attacking the media for what they saw as irresponsible reporting contrary to “national interest” although they, or their party, had been all praise for a the same media’s reporting of excesses under the Musharraf regime.

PML-Q member Riaz Hussain Piraza led a brief walkout by his party to protest against the use of force against the protesting lawyers and the humiliation of the media.


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