Nawaz, Bilawal agree to work on comprehensive CoD-II

ISLAMABAD: PMLN supremo Nawaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Zardari Bhutto have agreed in principle to work on a fresh Charter of Democracy, which was named CoD-II by the PPP chairperson during his meeting with the PMLN top leader.

Informed sources said that Bilawal Bhutto in his meeting with Nawaz Sharif in London came up with the idea of signing the CoD-II in order to have wider political agreement for constitutional rule, better governance, institution building, consensus-oriented economic policies, depoliticized bureaucracy, etc.

It is said that for the new CoD, the PDM forum may be used and all different political parties would be invited to discuss and agree to a comprehensive Charter so that despite political differences, the fundamentals of governance, economy, constitutional rule, etc, remain unchanged.

The last CoD was signed between Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. The idea is to include all different political parties in the proposed CoD-II. What has been agreed between Nawaz and Bilawal will be put in writing and later the PDM is expected to initiate the working on CoD-II.

As against the media speculation that the Bilawal-led PPP delegation had gone to London to seek from Nawaz Sharif key positions for the PPP, nothing of this sort was discussed or even raised by either the PPP chairman or any member of his team.

Sources said that the interaction between the two sides was much better than the expectations. Bilawal wanted to have a direct interaction with Nawaz Sharif instead of talking through intermediaries. Nawaz appreciated Bilawal for his thinking and initiatives. Bilawal Bhutto wanted to invite Nawaz for dinner but the latter insisted that he would host the PPP chairman who was visiting London to meet the PMLN leader.

The sources confirmed the story of Murtaza Ali Shah, The News senior correspondent in London, that Bilawal did not table any demand in front of the PMLN top leader and matters related to the appointment of president, governor and Senate chairman were not discussed during the meeting. The PPP chairman neither suggested anything in this regard nor did he discuss these issues.

"The source said that Nawaz Sharif was told by his advisers that Bilawal may bring up these issues, seeking these positions for the PPP, but to the surprise of everyone Bilawal told Nawaz Sharif he was meeting him not to ask for anything but to discuss the possibility and need of working together in future for the greater cause of strong and vibrant democracy," reported Murtaza for The News on Saturday.

According to his report titled 'Bilawal surprises Nawaz and Co, doesn’t table any demands': "The sources close to Bilawal said that the purpose of the meeting was to strengthen democracy and congratulate the PMLN supremo. They said Bilawal's London trip was also aimed at strengthening democracy and upholding the Constitution and he wanted to make this statement after a meeting with Nawaz Sharif."