National dialogue initiative: Two ruling coalition allies not on same page

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan and his junior coalition partner, the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F), are not on the same wavelength on the question of national dialogue.

The PML-F’s narrative regarding ‘Track-II dialogue’ is currently being propounded by its secretary-general Muhammad Ali Durrani. He says he has been tasked by his party boss to undertake the process, a claim that is widely viewed with a grain of salt; party head Pir Pagara himself is yet to publicly own the initiative and hasn’t uttered a word about it so far.

While Durrani is on the move pursuing his ‘assignment’, the prime minister continues to stick to his hard line. Imran Khan and his cabinet members have offered dialogue to the opposition but they have not specified any agenda for future talks and insisted that the talks cannot be about the accountability process and relief to opposition leaders.

In fact, they have been bringing up the invitation for talks as if it were a favour to their rivals. While agreeing to talk to the opposition, the prime minister simultaneously keeps directing his spokespersons to take on their rivals in an extremely attacking tone.

It has also been officially asserted that there would be no talks with Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who today is virtually running her party, because they are not part of parliament. On the other side of the divide, no eagerness whatsoever is visible on the part of the opposition for negotiations with the government. When there is so much both animosity and suspicion against each other on both sides, even talk of a dialogue process on any issue seems a cry in the wilderness.

Maryam Nawaz’s negative reaction provided a clear message to Durrani’s undertaking. She stated that Durrani’s visit to the jail is an eye-opener and it was strange that he was allowed to meet the PML-N chief but Shahbaz Sharif’s own family members are not permitted to see him. It took most observers by surprise when one day, out of the blue, Durrani accessed the Kot Lakhpat jail Lahore without any hassle to have a lengthy session with PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif. Although Shahbaz Sharif is leader of the opposition and party president, the reins of the party are increasingly in the hands of Maryam Nawaz under the guidance of her father, deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Both Maryam and her father Nawaz Sharif reacted negatively and were dismissive of Durrani’s initiative and the the proposed dialogue process. However, Shahbaz Sharif endorsed the move, firmly standing by his perennial line favouring reconciliation and a wider understanding. As for Durrani, he has stated umpteen times during his back-to-back TV appearances after his overtures to the opposition is that the prevailing atmosphere of confrontation cannot be allowed to linger and has to be checked without any loss of time. A way has to be found to evolve a consensus on contentious issues and national problems and move to resolve them.

The fact that Durrani chose to meet Shahbaz, despite his seeming ineffectuality in the party, showed that the ‘peace broker’ did not deem any other party leader worthy of such consultations as none other would buy the grand national dialogue idea. To date, there are no takers for Durrani’s plan within the PML-N as clearly no one wants to go against the decision of its current top leadership.

The PML-F leader’s second stop was a Lahore mosque where PDM chief Fazlur Rehman had just reached for a night’s stay a day before the opposition alliance’s public meeting at the Minar-e-Pakistan ground. The PDM supremo too was not at all enthusiastic about the meeting and turned down the national dialogue offer.

The ‘emissary’ has held his third meeting with former interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who has been politically inactive and silent after the 2018 general elections. How far he can be a key political player and a weighty voice for national dialogue is anybody’s guess in today’s changed circumstances.

So far, Durrani has not been able to make an impact in his task, although he remains optimistic. Had there been even a minor acceptance of what he is advocating by even a single major component party of the PDM, he would have tried to make a breakthrough by weaning it away from the alliance. Although he occupies an important office in the PML-F, Durrani has been keeping a low profile in the political arena for many years.

While Durrani’s mission is yet to register any success, the head of another coalition ally, PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, has cautioned that the situation is reaching a point of no return.“The government and the opposition should understand their duty -- that they have to work in the interest of the country and people; and the government should not respond to all opposition suggestions with rhetoric but should seriously consider them. We are allies but it is well known that when we talk about guidance, it is called opposition. Don’t fall into the trap of taking credit because in such a race some lawmakers do things that are unacceptable to anyone. The two sides should not follow the advice of those whose thinking is based on self-interest rather than national interest. Government representatives should not make everything an issue of their ego but take the initiative in resolving issues.”