The expected talks between the government and opposition could not take place because of the later dropped the idea of holding the meeting. A three-member government delegation, which had met the opposition leaders on Friday, seeking better relations at least in the parliament, were to hold another round of talks with opposition parties on Monday.
Following the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary party’s meeting in the Parliament House, which was also addressed by party’s vice president Maryam Nawaz, the opposition dropped the idea of holding the meeting.
Maryam Nawaz also said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) will not give any NRO to the incumbent government. “Imran Khan should be clear about the fact that there is going to no deal for him. His ministers should stop approaching us,” she told media persons.
In a program, Think Tank, prominent analyst Ayaz Amir has said that the PDM is no longer a serious threat to the government. “They [PDM] do not understand a few things. For example, PDM is not focusing on the common Pakistanis’ issues like inflation and sugar crisis,” he said.
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Professor Hassan Askari Rizvi also agreed with Amir and maintained that “PDM should know that the governments cannot be toppled like this”. Prof. Rizvi also noted that the PDM has never been clear about its agenda. “Earlier they attacked Army and the Judiciary, now ECP is being targeted,” he explained.
What is NRO?
On October 5, 2007, the-then Pakistani President and Army Chief, General Pervez Musharraf, had enforced the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), which had granted amnesty to politicians, political workers, and bureaucrats who were accused of corruption, money laundering, murders, and terrorism etc between January 1, 1986, and October 12, 1999 — the time between two Martial Law stints in Pakistan.
The NRO came into existence just 40 days before the stipulated five-year tenure of the PML-Q was supposed to end.
The NRO was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on December 16, 2009, but not before it had benefited 8,041 allegedly tainted people, including 34 politicians and three ambassadors.
PML-N wants to hold talks with the establishment?
There are some reports that the PML-N is now trying to hold talks with the establishment. Recently, the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) Secretary-General Muhammad Ali Durrani called on PML-N President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail after he was asked “by the establishment to go to jail”.
“During my meeting with Shehbaz, I conveyed an important message of the party chief Syed Sibghatullah Rashidi [Pir of Pagaro] to him. Mr Shehbaz is asked to play his role in stopping the opposition from resigning from the assemblies as the move could wrap up the democratic system. There is a need to initiate a grand dialogue among the national institutions and politicians, make the parliament functional and gather all Muslim Leagues under one platform,” Mr Durrani told media persons after the meeting.
Notably, on the eve of November 30, Muhammad Malick, a prominent Pakistani journalist, revealed that “the top army brass is under no internal pressure to create space for opposition parties”. While speaking to Nasim Zehra on channel 24, Malick maintained that the narrative projected by Nawaz Sharif and Maulana Fazalur Rehman won’t be of any use in the long run. “To be fair, this narrative can create some excitement but it is not sustainable,” he said.
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PDM has been seen carrying an anti-establishment narrative since its creations. Nawaz Sharif named the Army Chief and DG ISI for political engineering in the country. “General Bajwa is responsible for installing incompetent Imran Khan,” he said while addressing PDM rally from London.