RAWALPINDI: President Bhutto today [March 6] announced a tripartite political settlement among the Pakistan People’s Party, the National Awami Party and the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam providing for the lifting of Martial Law on Aug 14, a three-day meeting of the National Assembly on April 14 and sessions of the Provincial Assemblies from April 21.

In NWFP and Baluchistan, the NAP and JUI have been recognised as the majority parties and they will be entitled to form governments in these provinces and Governors will also be appointed in consultation with them. In a 16-minute broadcast to the nation he said the agreement had been reached with the cooperation of majority parties of the four provinces of West Pakistan in a spirit of adjustment which is the essence of democracy. The settlement allows three days of President’s talks with leaders of the NAP and the Jamiat, which concluded... . The terms of the settlement, he said, were clear ... and did not require interpretation or elaboration. — News agencies

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies in Lahore,] Mian Mumtaz Daultana, Council Muslim League leader, is to visit East Pakistan shortly as plenipotentiary of President Bhutto to open a dialogue with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2022