ISLAMABAD: As two main opposition parties excused themselves from Pakistan Peoples Party’s multi-party conference (MPC) scheduled for Saturday (today), the moot called to discuss the reinstatement of military courts, the merger of Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, implementation of the National Action Plan and ethnic profiling seems to have lost much of its steam.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), the second largest opposition party after the PPP, and the third largest — the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) — have sent their regrets as PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrived here on Friday.

The PPP had not invited the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to the meeting and so far three parliamentary parties — the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Awami National Party (ANP) — have confirmed their participation.

PML-Q president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain separately convened a meeting at his residence on Friday to discuss the revival of military courts and the implementation of the National Action Plan. Leaders of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) and the Majlis-i-Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) attended it. They sought more powers for military courts and prompt implementation of Fata reforms, approved by the government on Thursday.

Mr Zardari arrived at the federal capital ahead of Saturday’s moot to oversee arrangements for the event and hold intra-party meetings.

PTI leader Arif Alvi told Dawn that his party would not attend the conference as the government, at a meeting on Feb 28, had promised to address their reservations regarding the constitutional amendment bill on the revival of military courts.

Responding to a question about the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mr Alvi said the PTI was one of the biggest supporters of the merger but insisted that the process must be completed during the present government’s tenure before the general election in 2018.

MQM’s parliamentary leader Farooq Sattar also said that his party would not take part in PPP’s conference. He, however, did not elaborate as to why.

Mohammad Qaisar, a spokesperson for the JI, said the Jamaat, led by its emir Sirajul Haq, would take part in the moot. He would be accompanied by Liaquat Baloch and Sahibzada Tariq Ullah.

PPP’s general secretary Farhatullah Babar confirmed that the PTI and the MQM were not coming to the moot, and added that his party would stick to its stance on the issue of military courts, Fata reforms and other matters of importance.

He said after the Feb 28 meeting of parliamentary parties, PTI vice chairperson Shah Mehmood Qureshi had assured the PPP that he would try to convince his party chief to participate in Saturday’s moot. “However, Mr Qureshi did not call back,” he added.

The PPP leader said it was possible that the MQM believed that everything the party had suffered in Karachi was because of the PPP. “This could one of the reasons MQM is not coming,” he explained.

PML-Q meeting

At the PML-Q meeting Chaudhry Shujaat and leaders of PAT, SIC and the MWM said that military courts were need of the hour and should be allowed to work independently.

Participants of the meeting included Khurram Nawaz Gandapur of PAT, Sahibzada Hamid Raza of SIC and Allama Nasir Abbas of MWM.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Shujaat said some people had advised him not to attend the PPP’s moot. “But I believed we must attend any meeting called for important national matters,” he said.

The Q-League chief said his party and their allies wanted amendments to the NAP and the status of military courts so that they could work independently.

He demanded that the merger of Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the proposed reforms be effected before the 2018 general elections.

Published in Dawn, March 4th, 2017