Following advice to call a top-level security huddle once more, the federal government on Tuesday assigned Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to mediate between the opposition and the government.
Speaking on a private TV channel, Rana Sanaullah, senior PML-N lawmaker and advisor to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, said the government was willing to call the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) back together should Bilawal bring PTI forward.
“Bilawal Bhutto already forms a component of governance. Should he effectively arbitrate between PTI and the government and the negotiations produce favorable outcomes, it will be a major victory for us,” the PM’s adviser remarked.
Sanaullah referred to Bilawal as part of the government, but it is relevant to know that the PPP chairman has regularly emphasized that while his party supports the PML-N-led government and sits on treasury benches, it is not part of the federal cabinet.
The government’s action reflects Bilawal’s demand for a united front against terrorism and his worries about the lack of important political parties, especially PTI, from the just concluded high-level security conference.
Stressing that Pakistan’s security issues demanded group responsibility, he urged the prime minister to call the PCNS session with complete political representation after addressing PPP workers at the Punjab Governor’s House on Monday.
Bilawal also attacked opposition parties for giving political conflicts top priority over national security while advocating more general involvement.
Directly addressing Opposition Leader Omar Ayub Khan, he advised PTI to put aside internal concerns and concentrate on urgent national challenges including terrorism, economic instability and governance failures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
He underlined that PTI’s single demand for the release of its supremo Imran Khan shouldn’t let national security suffer. He underlined the need of national unity and cautioned about external powers taking advantage of Pakistan’s internal conflicts.
Bilawal positioned PPP as a link between the government and the opposition, contending that his party’s distinct posture— neither entirely in government nor opposition—allowed it to enable communication and aim at addressing important national issues.
Approved a unanimous proclamation on March 18, the PCNS reaffirmed Pakistan’s relentless will to eradicate terrorism in all its manifestations and promised forceful action against any element endangering national stability.
Among others, the main opposition party, PTI, boycotted the first security conference in parliament under the current PML-N-led coalition government, which had reiterated its commitment under the direction of both civil and military leadership.
The committee had underlined once more that no institution, person, or organization working in tandem with hostile forces will be let to compromise Pakistan’s security and peace. Expressing concern for the absence of several opposition members, an official statement had said, the committee reiterated that consultations on this topic will go on.
The military leadership had given a thorough briefing on the current security situation during the in-camera session, especially with reference to Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The conference was briefed on recent threats, continuous counterterrorism activities, and the state’s all-encompassing plan for guaranteeing internal security.
Following a series of incidents, especially in Balochistan, where militants recently seized a passenger train and executed a suicide bombing on a security convoy, security fears grew so severe that the PCNS called a conference.
Earlier, sixteen terrorists were murdered and five troops were martyred when attackers targeted Bannu Cantonment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Among six persons who died in a recent suicide assault at the Darul Uloom Haqqani in Nowshera district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, the son of Maulana Samiul Haq and chairman of his own faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-S), perished as well.
