ISLAMABAD, Aug 31: President Pervez Musharraf on Friday discussed with his negotiating team and legal and political aides various contentious issues that, in their view, were blocking a power-sharing deal with Benazir Bhutto.
He also discussed with them an alternative plan to get himself re-elected by winning the support of Maulana Fazlur Rehman.
It was decided that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and PML president Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain would launch a campaign to gain support for Gen Musharraf’s re-election.
The high-level meeting was attended, among others, by the four chief ministers. The presence of NWFP Chief Minister Akram Durrani at the deliberations has given another twist to the unfolding story.
The meeting decided not to compromise on the PPP chief’s proposal for dissolution/suspension of local bodies before the elections, change in the law on two-time prime ministers and repeal of Article 58(2)b -- the law empowering the president to dissolve assemblies before the expiry of their term.
The president, who is reported to have hinted at doffing his uniform, agreed not to do so as part of the compromise and to take the decision on his own whenever he felt comfortable.
The president’s negotiating team, which had held talks with Benazir Bhutto on a political package, is likely to leave for London to hold another round of talks and convey to the PPP chairperson certain reservations over the proposals she had forwarded to the government.
CHANGE OF HEART: Sources privy to the developments at the president’s Camp Office claimed that the PML leaders’ meeting with Gen Musharraf on Thursday had turned the tide in the ruling party’s favour, threatening to derail the dialogue process with Benazir Bhutto.
A senior PML official told Dawn that the party had cautioned Gen Musharraf’s aides that any deal on the president’s re-election with the PPP would harm the ruling coalition.
Chaudhry Shujaat also held a detailed meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz during the day and discussed the issues raised at the party leaders’ meeting with President Musharraf the previous day. The Minister of State for information, Tariq Azeem, and the chief-whip in the National Assembly, Nasrullah Dreshak, attended the meeting.
However, Tariq Azeem denied that he along with PML president Chaudhry Shujaat and Nasrullah Dreshak had any meeting with President Musharraf on Friday.
He said the president had agreed with Chaudhry Shujaat after Thursday’s meeting that he should continue efforts to gain parliamentary as well as electoral support of MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He said that negotiations with Maulana Fazl were at an advanced stage.
He said the PPP might hold talks with the president’s team in London, but a deal would ultimately need to be sealed in Islamabad.
The legal aides told the president that according to their assessment, no amendment bill could be passed in the Senate without the help of the MQM and the PML-Q even if the PPP were supported by the MMA.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to return home was also discussed. Foreign Office sources said a presidential emissary might leave for Saudi Arabia at the weekend to make a formal request to the Saudi king to ask Mr Sharif to honour the undertaking he had signed before leaving the country.
QAZI’S ‘NO’ TO DIALOGUE: Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal president Qazi Hussain Ahmed on Friday brushed aside prospects for any dialogue with Gen Musharraf, saying that a recent meeting in Quetta of the alliance had decided not to enter into any negotiations with the general or his men.
Talking to Dawn from Peshawar, Qazi Hussain said: “The MMA supreme council will meet on Sept 3 to discuss the political situation and future struggle against the Musharraf government.”
Meanwhile, Chaudhry Shujaat continues to say that Nawaz Sharif would ultimately decide against returning to the country. In a chat with the media, he advised the Sharifs to perform Umra instead of travelling to Pakistan.
It is interesting to note that the government has owned the statement made by Chaudhry Shujaat that only ‘nine per cent of the issues’ had been resolved in the talks with Benazir Bhutto.
Party sources said that Chaudhry Shujaat was desperate to forge some understanding with MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman so that he could assure Gen Musharraf that there was no need for an agreement with the PPP chairperson.
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