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Monday, October 26, 2009
By Sabir Shah
LAHORE: When President Asif Zardari meets the PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif today (Monday), this is the 11th time when the duo will be sitting across the table since Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in December 2007.
The two leaders first met in Naudero on December 29, 2007, two days after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, where Nawaz Sharif had gone to condole with Asif Zardari and Bilawal Bhutto.
The second time they met on February 16, 2008, two days before the February 18, 2008 polls and exactly 50 daysafter the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
Sources in both the political camps told The News while Asif Zardari might seek Nawaz Sharif’s help during today’s meeting in getting the National Reconciliation Ordinance validated through the Parliament in November; the PML-N was likely to press the president for abolishing all ‘undemocratic’ clauses from the 17th Constitutional Amendment.
These sources said that President Zardari might also seek Sharif’s support in changing the name of NWFP to ‘Pakhtoonkhwa’ in line with the wishes of the ANP Chief Asfandyar Wali. The PML-N has already opposed the change of name for NWFP.
This scribe also heard on the grapevine that the situation in Waziristan and its probable fall-out in the wake of the ongoing army operation in the mountains might also come under discussion along with the harsh conditions incorporated in the Kerry-Lugar Law.
These sources did not rule out the chances that Nawaz Sharif might also touch on former President Pervez Musharraf’s trial issue amidst an air of the ever-increasing mistrust between the leaders of the two largest political parties in the country.
It, however, remains to be seen what president agrees to offer in return to the PML-N for the validation of the NRO amidst reports that MQM is not very supportive towards this issue to the sheer dismay of Zardari.
To recap, here follows the date-wise synopsis of the 10 Zardari-Nawaz meetings so far:
1) December 29,2007: Nawaz Sharif visited Naudero and condoled with Asif Zardari over Benazir Bhutto’s death. Bilawal Bhutto was also present on this occasion and so were Messrs Asfanduar Wali, Amin Fahim, Jahengir Badar, Illahi Buksh Soomro, Hasil Bijenjo, Rafiq Tarar and Ahsan Iqbal. Both the leaders also held a one-to-one meeting in a separate room on this occasion.
2) February 16, 2008: Zardari and Sharif met on the weekend pledging to launch a joint movement in case the February 18 elections in the country were rigged by the Musharraf-led caretaker regime. The two leaders publicly announced that they were contesting the elections in protest. They first held a one-to-one meeting, before being joined by their respective confidants.
3) February 21,2008: During their meeting within three days of the 2008 elections that saw the PPP clinching the top position, both Zardari and Sharif agreed to form coalition governments both in the Centre and in the provinces in collaboration with the ANP.
They announced that there was no disagreement between them on the restoration of the judiciary, adding both parties would work out the modalities in the Parliament. Zardari said his party’s agenda after taking oath would be to seek support of friends on a resolution seeking a UN-led investigation into Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, asserting both the parties had a lot of grounds to cover.
4) April 21, 2008: The ruling coalition failed to agree on the resolution for the restoration of the deposed judges as envisaged in the Murree Declaration and also on the constitutional package for judicial reforms. The deadlock on the issue forced both the senior partners to meet again to reach a consensus to move the resolution in the National Assembly. The deadlock pertained to the date of restoration of the deposed judges and fixation of the age of retirement for the judges of both the Supreme Court and the high courts. The meeting between PPP Co-Chairman Asif Zardari and PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif at the Punjab House Islamabad lasted for more than three hours. Both Zardari and Sharif held a one-on-one meeting initially, besides holding separate sessions with respective party-men present to break the impasse that still persisted then over the proposed constitutional package. While the PPP supported five-year tenure for the Supreme Court Chief Justice, the PML-N insisted on the implementation of the Murree Declaration in letter and spirit. However, Nawaz Sharif told Asif Zardari in clear words that the PML-N would not accept any ‘minus one’ formula for the restoration of judges. The PML-N wanted removal of all those judges who took oath after the imposition of the PCO while the PPP wanted to keep all those judges intact while reinstating the deposed judges. Talking to newsmen after the meeting, a PML-N spokesman said the judges would hopefully be restored before April 30, 2008, adding if the deadlock with PPP persisted over the restoration of superior courts judges, the PML-N would quit the ministerial slots.
5) April 30, 2008: Both Sharif and Zardari met in Dubai. Nawaz Sharif announced from Dubai that his talks with Asif Ali Zardari had finally led to an agreement on the restoration of judiciary according to the spirit of the Murree Declaration.
6) May 9, 2008: Both the leaders met in London to save the ruling coalition from breaking away. Obvious discussions about restoration of deposed judges were held.
7) MAY 27, 2008: PPP Co-Chairman Senator Asif Zardari and PML-N Chief Nawaz Sharif held talks in Islamabad and discussed important national issues confronting the country. Asif Zardari presented his point of view and explained salient features of the proposed constitutional package. He asked Nawaz Sharif to support PPP so that supremacy of the Parliament and civilian institutions could be restored. Nawaz Sharif said PML-N would respond to PPP after detailed review of proposed constitutional package.
8) AUG 4, 2008: Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif held talks lasting over six hours during which they discussed political situation in the country. The question of the impeachment of the then President General (R) Musharraf, restoration of judiciary to pre-November 3, 2007 position and matters related to their alliance came under discussion. The two leaders also held a one-on-one meeting.
9) November 8, 2008: After a period of intense inter-party jousting that made bad blood run between the two sides for a few months, President Asif Zardari invited Nawaz Sharif over a dinner and discussed the political situation with him, vowing that he would move the country forward in collaboration with the PML-N. Sharif reiterated his stance that he would do nothing to destabilise the incumbent government and join hands with Zardari in confronting the problems pertaining to terrorism and economic crisis. This was the first “summit” meeting since August 2008, when the PML-N had opted to get out of the coalition with the PPP.
10) July 17, 2009: President Asif Zardari visited Raiwind to meet Nawaz Sharif. This was their first meeting in eight months. The two parties agreed that after the installation of a democratic government, it was necessary to remove those undemocratic clauses from the constitution that had been inserted by successive dictators against the wishes of the people.
Both the sides reiterated commitment to adhere to the principles laid down in the Charter of Democracy to democratise the constitution and rid it of all undemocratic clauses including the 17th Amendment.
They hoped that the parliamentary committee, set up to review the constitution, would complete its task in the shortest possible time and propose suitable amendments to it. Both the PPP and PML-N expressed the view that the situation in Balochistan needed to be addressed urgently, agreeing that the Parliament should play a proactive role in meeting the aspirations of the people of Balochistan.
The two parties also agreed that militancy posed the most serious threat to national security and that a holistic approach was needed to address the issue. They agreed that the militants should not be allowed to impose their agenda on the people through guns and bullets.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
