ISLAMABAD, May 5: A four-member committee of the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) met here on Friday to give final touches to the “charter of democracy” to be signed by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in London on May 14, sources told Dawn.

The committee comprising Senator Raza Rabbani and Senator Dr Safdar Abbasi of the PPP and Senator Ishaq Dar and Ahsan Iqbal of the PML(N), met in a committee room of Parliament House and held point-by-point discussion on the proposed charter.

The sources said that leaders of the two opposition parties had developed consensus on all points in the charter and decided to meet again on Saturday to simplify and improve its language.

It may be mentioned that Ms Bhutto and Mr Sharif had agreed in principle to sign the charter last year in their meeting in Jeddah and constituted a four-member committee to prepare a draft. The committee members after several meetings finalised a rough draft and sent it to their party heads for approval.

The sources said Mr Sharif and Ms Bhutto had suggested some changes in the draft and these were made part of the charter in Friday’s meeting.

The sources said that through the charter the two parties would resolve not to repeat past mistakes and would allow each other’s government to complete term.

The charter, the sources said, also outlined various steps for making the Election Commission a powerful and independent institution.

In addition, they said, the charter delineated a mechanism for appointment of judges purely on merit.

The sources said the two parties had agreed in principle to work together in parliament to amend the constitution to bring it to the pre-October 12, 1999, position.

They said the charter would bind the two parties to devise a new formula for distribution and use of resources by the provinces.

Another important point in the charter is formation of a “Sachai (truth) Commission” to provide justice to people and their families killed, tortured or jailed between 1976 and 2005 because of state oppression.

In the first draft of the charter, the sources said, there were some points related to the future foreign policy of the country, but these points had now been excluded and it had been decided by the committee members that the charter would focus only on domestic and democratic issues.

The sources said that leaders of the PPP and PML-N would leave for London on May 11 and 12 to assist their respective party heads.

Ms Bhutto will be assisted by Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Raza Rabbani, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Raja Pervez Ashraf and Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, while Mr Sharif’s aides in the May 14 meeting will be Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal and Iqbal Zafar Jhagra.