Ruling troika on same page to safeguard efforts for economic, political stability

ISLAMABAD: The ruling troika — President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief General Asim Munir — is on the same page to secure economic and political stability of the country.

Informed sources said the three agree not to let anyone destablize Pakistan and threaten its economy, which is on the revival mode. Many in the government already knew about the understanding between the prime minister and army chief.

The sources reveal President Asif Ali Zardari is in complete support of the other two members of the ruling troika in their efforts to improve financial condition of the country.

“You can’t imagine what the president is doing,” said a source, adding the troika is focused and determined not to let anyone destabilize the system and hurt economy, which is showing signs of improvement, and this fact is acknowledged by different global financial institutions and rating agencies.

After the recent failure of the government to pass a constitutional package, it was on the president’s direction the PPP got active in achieving a consensus for setting up of a Federal Constitution Court and introducing a new system of judges’ appointment as per the provisions of Charter of Democracy (CoD).

The president, it is said, has also requested Maulana Fazlur Rehman to support the constitutional bill. In matters where PPP even gets upset, these sources said, Zardari intervenes. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, pledged the coalition government will not permit Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to repeat its actions from the 2014 sit-in.

The PMLN, PPP and even the establishment believes PTI is consistently trying to hurt economic progress of the country for its own political gains. Regarding the judiciary, serious concerns were raised after July 12 majority (8:5) decision of SC’s full court in the special seats case.

The Sept 14 order/clarification of eight judges, who handed down the majority decision in favour of PTI, furthered concerns of different key players in the present set-up. Bilawal Bhutto, PPP chairman, recently cautioned any delay beyond Oct 25 in getting the 26th constitutional amendment passed would lead to a face-off between institutions, leaving parliament at the losing end.

Bilawal also criticised the judiciary’s timing regarding certain actions, questioning why timing of the injunction on reserved seats was not being scrutinized. He pointed out the judiciary’s four-page clarification issued on September 14, the day of a parliamentary session, which raised questions about judiciary’s timing.