PM calls allies meeting ahead of SC’s hearing on poll date: sources

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahbaz has convened a meeting of allied parties of the government on Wednesday (tomorrow) — just a day before the Supreme Court will resume hearing a petition seeking to hold general elections to national and provincial assemblies simultaneously.

On April 20, the top court adjourned the hearing of the petition till April 27 after the key ruling parties — Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) — had assured the SC they would sit with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on April 26 and try to find a solution on the election date.

The sources privy to the matter said that the meeting of the ruling parties will be held at the Prime Minister's House at 12:30 pm.

The participants of the meeting would “discuss the current political situation and devise a future strategy”, the sources added.

The prime minister is expected to take all the allies on board over the expected dialogues with PTI on the election date.

Speaking on the Geo News programme, Naya Pakistan, on April 21, PPP senior leader Qamar Zaman Kaira confirmed that the ruling alliance had made contact with the PTI on Thursday (April 20).

"[PML-N's] Ayaz Sadiq spoke to [PTI’s] Asad Qaiser yesterday at noon” to end the ongoing political crisis in the country, Kaira said.

Speaking during the TV show, Kaira said that the court has different ways, while the political parties have to find a way out of the possibilities.

It is pertinent to mention here that a three-member bench of the top court — headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar — sought a progress report on April 27 about the upcoming meeting of political leaders scheduled for April 26.

'Disagreement’ among ruling allies

The ruling allies hit a snag over holding talks with the PTI on April 18, sources told Geo News, after Jamaat-e-Islami's (JI) bid to bring both sides to the negotiation table.

The PDM coalition partners met in Islamabad after PM Shehbaz convened a meeting on the country's political situation and the JI's negotiation efforts.

During the meeting, a disagreement took place among the parties in the coalition government over holding talks with the opposition party as some believed that PTI Chairman Imran Khan could not be trusted, while others insisted that political forces should not shut channels for negotiations.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari stressed holding dialogue with the opposition, with Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan National Party, Balochistan Awami Party, Chaudhry Salik, and Mohsin Dawar backing him, sources said.

Bilawal said closing the door for talks is against his party's principles and "undemocratic".

"It is the need of the hour that the path of dialogue be adopted and the country taken out of the crisis," he added.

But representatives of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP) rejected Bilawal's opinion and said that it isn't in the coalition's interests to hold talks with the deposed prime minister — who was ousted from the office via a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly in April last year.

Speedy consultation after Eid

Earlier, JI Emir Siraj Ul Haq — who is trying to bring both sides to the table to steer the country out of the crisis — claimed that political contact will expedite after the Eid ul Fitr.

He added that both PM Shehbaz and Khan had realised that the situation is bad, adding that his party has one-point agenda — elections should be held across the country.

“We want everyone to agree on the election date,” Haq further said.

The JI leader added that the nation would have to face the consequences of the ongoing political and constitutional crises.