Govt, PTI sign accord to set up Judicial Commission

ISLAMABAD: The Minister for Finance, Ishaq Dar, on the behalf of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government and the leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday formally signed an agreement, paving the way for setting up a judicial commission to probe the PTI’s allegations over the May 2013 general election.
During a press conference here, the minister who spearheaded the government’s side during the negotiations with the PTI team, signed the seven-page agreement for the promulgation of an ordinance for setting up the probe commission.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and PML-N General Secretary Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, in the presence of media persons, signed the document while from the PTI its Secretary General Jahangir Tareen and Shah Mahmood Qureshi signed it. Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik also signed the draft as a witness.
Ishaq Dar, on the occasion, thanked both the negotiating teams and said that their members worked under the guidance of their respective leaderships. He particularly thanked the PML-N president and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other members of the political Jirga, including Rehman Malik and Sirajul Haq, for extending facilitation and encouraging the parties to reach the final stage.
Ishaq Dar said that now they would expeditiously work for the promulgation of the relevant ordinance through initiation of the process and stressed “the uncertainty over the issue should subside now”.
He said the actual draft had already been arrived at on March 20, while other small details of the draft were sorted out on Wednesday.He also expressed his pleasure over reaching the accord with consensus of both parties.
PTI’s Senior Vice President Shah Mahmood Qureshi declared the day as historic in the country’s politics, saying it would strengthen the democratic system manifold. “The political strata of the country has agreed that the transparent system for holding of free and fair elections will be put into place,” he added. —APP
Muhammad Saleh Zaafir adds: Earlier, the government approved the draft of the ordinance in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif held here at the PM House on Wednesday. As per the agreement, a presidential ordinance will be promulgated before the weekend for setting up the Judicial Commission and it would give its verdict within 45 days. The meeting took stock of the overall political situation in the country and various subjects related to it came under discussion in the course of deliberations.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar, Leader of the House in the Senate Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Minister for Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Planning and Development Professor Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rehman Ahmad Khan, Attorney General for Pakistan Salman Aslam Butt, Special Assistants to Prime Minister Khawaja Zaheer Ahmad, Barrister Zafarullah Khan, parliamentary leader of the PML-N in Senate Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, eminent jurist and MNA Zahid Hamid and Political Secretary to the PM Dr Asif Ahmad Saeed Kirmani. Talking to the participants, the prime minister said the government was fully focused on resolving the issues of national importance. He said the government of PML-N was utilising all resources to make Pakistan a stronger and prosperous country. “Our intentions are noble and the resolve is firm,” he said.
The prime minister asked the PML-N leaders, particularly the ministers, to play their role in providing the maximum relief to the people.He said that record development had always taken place during the tenures of PML-N and this process was still going on. The prime minister said that the government was taking all the steps necessary to tackle the energy crisis during its tenure.