ISLAMABAD: The combined opposition has finalised names of eight members for the committee being formed to devise a joint strategy to give a tough time to the ruling coalition inside and outside parliament and to hold negotiations with the government on the issue of granting a second extension to the military courts, sources told Dawn on Thursday.

The committee will comprise three members each from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and one member each from the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and the Awami National Party (ANP), according to the sources.

They said the PML-N had proposed the names of former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Rana Sanaullah and Rana Tanveer Hussain whereas the PPP had decided to nominate former premier Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Syed Khursheed Shah and Senator Sherry Rehman to represent the party in the committee. Similarly, they said, the MMA would be represented by Maulana Abdul Wasay and ANP by former Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister Amir Haider Hoti.

The final names of the committee members are expected to be officially announced by the opposition on Friday.

The decision to form the committee had been announced by Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly and PML-N president Shahbaz Sharif after hosting a meeting of the opposition leaders, including former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at his chamber on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2019