No PDM party to attend SC proceedings today: Fazl

ISLAMABAD: PDM President Fazlur Rehman has decided that none of the coalition leaders or representatives will attend the proceedings of the three-member bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial, on Thursday (today).

The JUI chief, Fazlur Rehman, has taken the PPP leadership into confidence on the decision. The JUI leader contended that parliament in its resolution had unanimously expressed its lack of confidence in the bench and disputed its proceedings.

In another significant development, Fazl has categorically refused once again to sit across the table with the PTI and Imran Khan. Well-placed sources told The News Wednesday evening that a PPP delegation, led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, met with Fazl in his village near Dera Ismail Khan but failed to woo him on the terms of dialogue with the PTI.

The JUI leader told his visiting interlocutors that his party had decided to stay away from the Supreme Court on Thursday (today). The sources said Bilawal met with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif after getting back from DI Khan and briefed him on what had transpired in the meeting. Shehbaz reportedly told Bilawal that he respected Fazl as his reservations about the PTI and Imran weren’t misplaced. “As he is the PDM president, we are bound to respect his views. We will sit with him upon his return from Dera Ismail Khan after Eid next week,” the prime minister said.

The sources pointed out that the meeting between the PPP delegation and Fazl was pleasant and positive but the host stuck to his position that would be announced today.

Bilawal conveyed Zardari’s message to Fazl, who has announced to convene a meeting of the PDM component parties early next week in Islamabad. Fazl reminded his PPP guests that Imran wasn’t a reliable person and was not even a politician. He asked who would guarantee that he would not do a U-turn on whatever he commits. Bilawal was of the opinion that the doors of dialogue never close in politics. Fazl reiterated that Imran was an agent of foreign powers and a tout of international Zionism.

“Upon your insistence, I would consult my party another time for the ultimate reply,” Fazl assured Bilawal.

He recalled that one shouldn’t expect a positive outcome from meeting with Imran who had ruined KP in his 10-year misrule and Pakistan in four years of misgovernance through corruption.

Bilawal insisted that dialogue was the only way out to find a solution to the ongoing political crisis and kept on asking Fazl to review his decision, the sources said.

Meanwhile, JUI spokesman Aslam Ghauri in a statement has asked the political parties to demonstrate maturity. He said it was strange that efforts were on to save the sinking boat of Imran through dialogue. He said no one was assessing the destruction concealed behind the pleasant name of dialogue. Ghauri maintained that whenever and whatever the JUI had stated about Imran in the past proved true and correct. He warned that talks were a trap and should be avoided, otherwise the PDM parties will have to repent.

Aslam Ghauri said PTI was a vendor of foreign powers that could cause destruction and nothing else. “Have the political parties forgotten the losses that occurred due to the judicial decisions? We hate the remnants of political martial laws. Have they made an assessment of the outcome of judicial martial law?” Ghauri asked.