ISLAMABAD: Soon after Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani suggested the formation of a 10-member special parliamentary committee to hold dialogue on elections, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rejected the proposal.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi — speaking to media persons outside the Supreme Court on Thursday — said that the party has rejected Sanjrani’s committee as “this matter isn’t about Senate, it is about political consensus”.
Qureshi said that the party has already formed its three-member committee after consultations with party chief Imran Khan. The panel comprises Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry and Barrister Ali Zafar.
The ruling alliance had proposed the formation of a 10-member parliamentary committee with equal representation from both sides for talks on holding elections across the country on the same date.
The thaw in the rigid political scenario took place following the government’s suggestion of a parliamentary committee to hold parleys with the Opposition in line with the Supreme Court’s instruction to develop a consensus on the election date.
Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar and Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique contacted Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in this regard.
The sources further added that the government suggested that the parliamentary committee should include five members from each side.
Following the meeting, Sanjrani wrote a letter to PTI seeking nominations for the committee.
In his letter to PTI leader Shehzad Waseem, the Senate chairman said that he had been approached by the ruling coalition to mediate a “political dialogue to address the ongoing political and economic crisis including the holding of general elections.”
“The Senate of Pakistan; House of Federation, being a stabilising factor of the federation is constitutionally bestowed with the responsibility of protecting the national and political harmony vis-a-vis the national and public interest,” he wrote.
Sanjrani added that a 10-member special committee for holding political dialogue is being constituted under the joint convenership of the Leader of the House in the Senate and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate and comprising four members each from the treasury and opposition benches.
He further mentioned that his office and the Senate will be available to facilitate the talks. He then asked Waseem to provide, on the PTI’s behalf, the names of four members from the opposition benches, to be made part of the committee in two days.
Earlier, Sanjrani had also contacted PTI leaders Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Asad Umar and Waseem, the sources said.
It may be noted that the Supreme Court on April 20 had directed the political parties to hold a dialogue in a bid to reach a consensus on the date of elections in the country, with the government stressing to hold the polls on the same day.
On April 4, the three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial ordered the government to hold polls in Punjab on May 14.
However, after issuing its written verdict in the previous hearing, the court held that its judgment rendered on the case of delay in the elections had already fixed May 14 as the date of election to the Punjab Assembly.
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