ISLAMABAD, June 6: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Chief Minister NWFP Akram Khan Durrani on Friday held a second meeting in twenty-four hours to resolve the differences between the federal government and the NWFP government.
Both the parties stuck to their positions even though they expressed the hope that they would be able to sort out their differences in a democratic way. The NWFP chief minister, however, made a fresh demand that governor of the province be replaced.
An official announcement after the meeting said: “The leaders hoped that both sides would be able to resolve their differences in the true spirit of democracy and in the best interest of the democratic system.”
The handout added: “The prime minister made it clear that there are certain federal government privileges and prerogatives, which must be preserved in order to ensure smooth functioning of the federation.”
MMA’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmad, who often acts as the alliance’s spokesman, told Dawn that Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and PML(Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain had apologized for what was done by the federal government with the NWFP government in last one week. He said the prime minister was asked by the CM to replace the sitting governor who was “conspiring against the MMA government.”
The meeting was also attended by PML(Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
The official announcement said that various proposals put forward by the chief minister were discussed and the prime minister said that the federal government was “keen to resolve all political issues through dialogue.”
Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said the NWFP’s chief minister had met the prime minister after seeking approval from the MMA leadership.
He said that a list of six officers, three for the chief secretary and three for the Inspector General Police, was handed over to the prime minister.
The MMA leader said that the CM informed the prime minister that the issue of action against two Nazims was in the notice of Gen Pervez Musharraf as it was discussed with him when he visited the province last month. He (Musharraf) had said that those indulging in corruption must be taken to task.
Even then the MMA government did not take action against the two Nazims, and referred the matter to the provincial assembly, he said.
The federal government has, perhaps, realized that no amount of arm-twisting would browbeat the MMA leadership into changing their principled stance on the LFO, he added.
About the statement of Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, he said that the government was told in unequivocal terms that if it wanted to improve relations with the NWFP government, it would have to keep the information minister in check.