ISLAMABAD: With an important Senate session under way, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met former president Asif Ali Zardari here on Wednesday and agreed to review the controversial Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) along with other anti-terrorism laws after taking the parties in parliament on board.

The law, which has generated much debate and attracted considerable criticism, has been passed by the National Assembly and presented in the upper house, where it does not stand much chance because the PML-N does not have a majority in the Senate.

The opposition parties in the Senate, including the PPP, ANP and PML-Q, have made it clear they will not let the bill pass in its current form.

Dawn has learnt that the issue took up a major part of the meeting that was held when Mr Zardari flew in from Karachi in the morning on a private jet provided by a well-known real-estate tycoon.

After the government agreed to address the reservations raised by the PPP, Mr Sharif tasked Zahid Hamid to start a consultation process to finalise the changes needed to make the draft bill palatable.

Although Mr Hamid holds the portfolio of science and technology, he handles legal and legislative matters for the government.

That the issue was discussed in the meeting was confirmed by the press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office – albeit in a bland and matter-of-fact manner.

“Issues regarding various legislations, including the PPO, amendments in anti-terrorism act and future legislative agenda, were discussed in the meeting. It was agreed that all political forces should develop a consensus on legislations for their effective implementation,” it said.

“The meeting was primarily called to address the concerns of the PPP over the PPO. The presence of Senator Raza Rabbani, a constitutional expert from the PPP, and Zahid Hamid lends credence to this,” a government official told Dawn. Among the clauses that the PPP is said to have objected to include the provision to detain suspects for up to 90 days and the powers given to civil armed forces to shoot suspects at sight.

Unwittingly or not, the press statement also made a passing reference to the perceived tension in the civil-military relationship which has made headlines and dominated talk show discussions over the past week.

By adding that “They (two leaders) expressed their commitment to respect and to strengthen all institutions in order to address the many challenges faced by Pakistan…,” the statement may end up providing fodder to those who had speculated that Mr Sharif was meeting Mr Zardari because he needed to ensure that the political parties would stand by the PML-N in case there was any threat to the democratic system.

This ‘democracy is under threat’ storm in a teacup was triggered because Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had in a press statement on April 7 emphasised the need for mutual respect among all state institutions.

This was seen as a veiled warning to PML-N ministers, some of whom had spoken critically of retired General Pervez Musharraf after his indictment in the high treason case.

When asked if the civil-military relations figured in the meeting, the government official said, “The meeting focused on legislation and on the security situation in Karachi. But they may have discussed other issues during their one-to-one meeting” which continued for about half an hour.

Talking to the media after the meeting, Senator Raza Rabbani said the government had agreed to review the PPO and, in response, the PPP had assured its support to the ruling party provided it took all political parties on board on important issues. This, however, is not to say that other issues were not discussed.

The prime minister briefed the PPP team, which included Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah and Murad Ali Shah, an adviser to the Sindh chief minister, on federal projects in Sindh, in particular the Thar coal project.

Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar and additional secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad also attended the meeting.

Other issues which were discussed included that of Etisalat which owes $800 million to Pakistan but refuses to pay till it is handed over certain properties owned by PTCL. A number of these properties are in Karachi and till the Sindh government transfers them Etisalat will not make the payment.

Later in the evening in the Senate, the deputy chairman Senate described the meeting as a positive tradition.

Senator Farhatullah Babar said in his speech that the discussions indicated the growing realisation of the need to strengthen parliament.