ISLAMABAD, April 8: Separate boycott of the meetings of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security first by PML-N and now by the JUI-F has brought in the open the disunity among opposition parties, belying their claim of adopting a “united stance” on new terms of engagement with the US currently being discussed at the joint sitting of parliament.

Not only that, the two parties are also toeing separate lines on the issue of resumption of Nato supplies, exposing the claim made by leaders of the two parties after their meeting last month in which they had announced they would adopt a “united stance” during the ongoing parliamentary session and in meetings of the PCNS, currently busy in redrafting its earlier recommendations presented before parliament on March 20.

The claim was made by the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, in front of TV cameras and in presence of Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Aftab Sherpao, several members of PML-N, JUI-F and PML-Q (Like-Minded) after a meeting at the residence of JUI-F chief in Islamabad on March 24.

The opposition leaders had asked the government to finalise new guidelines for the country’s relationship with the US through a “consensus decision” and warned it against any move to use parliament only to endorse its pre-decided actions.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday contacted Maulana Fazlur Rehman on telephone and asked him to end his boycott to the PCNS, but the JUI-F chief told the president in categorical terms that any decision about ending the boycott would be made at a meeting of the party’s parliamentary group on Monday.

The decision to boycott the meetings by the JUI-F has made the task of the bipartisan PCNS headed by PPP stalwart Raza Rabbani more difficult as it has been struggling to come out with a consensus document following different and changed positions of political parties on the issue of resumption of Nato supplies.