arslan4u
Minister (2k+ posts)
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YESTERDAY LEADING 11 MEN; TODAY 52 POLITICAL PARTIES! - By Taimur Shaique Hussain
Stating that all political parties had acceded to his request, the Prime Minister invited the Chairman, Pakistan Tehreek – e- Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, to join the All Parties’ Conference (APC). Gathering advice, consensus, and after pondering over the invitation, Imran Khan, Dr Shireen Mazari and Dr. Arif Alvi, ultimately attended the APC. They met at the party office with the Chairman and refined a draft which reflected party policy. During the proceedings of the APC, Chairman PTI, Imran Khan, occasionally came out and made his team members present there aware of the speeches and the briefings done.
The inclination of the Government throughout the APC had been to continue to do what they are presently doing, and they had expected that all political parties should support them and bow down again to US pressure. As opposed, the PTI thought the time to alter direction has now come. Senior party members were urging the Chairman and he too was of the opinion that if a no-change policy would be insisted upon, he would walk out of the APC.
The Government’s draft was circulated which was typically bland, verbose and devoid of substance. The Chairman came to the side room and Sheikh Rashid brought the government draft asking us just to add a few paragraphs. The people present were the Chairman, Ch Nisar, Asfandyar Wali, Munawar Hasan, Kaira, Baber Awan, Aftab Sherpao, Foreign Secretary, Dr Arif Alvi, Dr. Shireen Mazari and a few others.
The discussion started with our draft. Dr. Arif contributed on some points. The Chairman insisted that the government must alter course otherwise the whole exercise would be futile. All our points were incorporated, including revisiting the now failing government policy and altering direction towards peace and negotiations. With some resistance and minor changes the PTI draft was modified and a final document was agreed upon. Chaudhry Nisar was quite receptive to our suggestions and so were others.
Whilst no party had any documented policy paper, as has generally always been the case, only PTI team went prepared with a visionary road-map (documented, agreed upon, almost & nearly ready for on-the ground implementation).
As PTI negotiated its way through, the government now, at least on paper, is bound to alter course from military action and focus more towards peace, and negotiation and to also on laying down a mechanism for the same. Pakistan Tehreek – e- Insaf are not very confident on implementation. However, that is not our responsibility as of yet. Additionally, the unanimous NA resolution was reinforced as regards Drone attacks. Please remember, the USA has consistently been targeting our people and our soil with no regard to a National Assembly resolution to halt drone strikes. It was also decided that a parliamentary committee shall be formed which shall oversee implementation of the APC resolution and NA unanimous resolution regarding killings through Drone hits.
For PTI, this not only appears, but also may be a major victory of skills on the negotiation front. While many consider Imran Khan as an angry politician criticizing the present regime all the time, they may well be advised on the fact that PTI and Imran Khan are the only people who can possibly bring the country together, as was practically illustrated at the APC. Our skills of leadership in changing direction of country thinking may perhaps safely be regarded as a good start at least on paper, which by itself is not a minor victory. As a matter of fact, it may be quite widely regarded as a brilliant coup which could not have happened without the grace of Allah, where 52 parties many of whom till yesterday talked against this line of action went along with the point of view of senior PTI leadership. The victory is not what came on paper, but how the Chairman and your party managed to do it. It is a credit to your party’s diplomatic skills that almost all what we wanted was incorporated, and, moreover, agreed upon by all.
The final draft as wanted by us was approved unanimously by 52 political parties within one hour of presentation, not an unremarkable feat.
Imran Khan and PTI: yesterday leading 11 men; today 52 political parties..!
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