A view of the National Assembly.—File Photo

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan’s People Party (PPP) finds itself stuck between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea — and unreliable coalition allies.

The allies are not interested in committing their support to the PPP in parliament, without first knowing and approving of the tactics it will use to respond to the Supreme Court’s Tuesday ruling in the NRO implementation case, according to sources.

A senior PPP member told Dawn on Wednesday that the final decision about “the instrument to be used in parliament” would be made in a meeting of the parliamentary groups of all the coalition partners on Thursday.

However, a source in a coalition party said the PPP leadership in a meeting on Tuesday night had sought support for its plan to table “some resolution” in the National Assembly, but claimed that no party assured them of an all-out support until they saw the text. He said it was not clear what kind of a resolution the government wanted to bring in the house.

This lack of trust was not limited to off-the-record conversations.

Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain complained in a TV show that the PPP leadership had not included them in consultations. “We are not behind the government, but behind principles,” the PML-Q chief said when asked if his party was ready to extend all-out support to the government in the crisis.

Chaudhry Shujaat said he had advised the PPP “to resolve the matter amicably” and avoid confrontation between state institutions.

The PPP leader, when contacted to seek comment on Chaudhry Shujaat’s remarks, said it showed that the PML-Q chief had had some second thoughts because only the night before he had assured President Asif Zardari of his cooperation to deal with the present crisis.

He said Tuesday night’s meeting with coalition partners was meant for consultation for which President Zardari had especially flown to the capital from Karachi.

Replying to a question, the PPP leader who is privy to developments and remained part of the consultations with the coalition parties, said the party had chalked out its own strategy, but for its implementation it needed the support of its allies. He admitted that there was a lack of trust between the PPP and the coalition partners because of past incidents.

He cited the example of the MQM which in the past first benefited from the NRO and later, seeing the public reaction, refused to support the bill in parliament, which left the PPP with no option but to drop the idea.

Responding to another query, he said chances that the prime minister would seek a vote of confidence from the assembly were minimal.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters after inaugurating the PTV Sports Channel, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said without elaborating that his government would respond to all the six options given by the Supreme Court in its ruling. He said he was shocked and hurt to hear the comments of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa that “I am a dishonest man, without even hearing me or without even talking to me”.

He said democracy would stay as it was the destiny of Pakistan and the Senate election would be held in time. “This game is being played to stop the Senate election. But I think that the Senate election will be held in time and democracy will stay,” he said.

“Democracy is the destiny of Pakistan. It has become its destiny and all institutions would be working under the civilian government,” he added.

To a question, he said: “The ‘trichotomy’ of power keeps a very careful balance between all the institutions of the country and that is why we have restored the original 1973 Constitution.”

On the other hand, a meeting of senior PPP leaders from all provinces was held at the party’s central secretariat to discuss issues relating to projection of the party’s point of view through the national and international media.

The meeting presided over by Babar Awan was held under instructions of the party co-chairman, President Zardari, to finalise the party’s media effort to place events and issues in the correct perspective, says an official handout.

The meeting resolved to not only press into service all available resources for effective projection of the party’s policies but also to further strengthen and expand these resources. It noted that as the country’s largest political party the PPP should have a strong information network to effectively respond to political and information challenges in the coming days and weeks.—AW