LAHORE: Disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday chaired a special meeting of his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), at his residence in Jati Umra in which supreme public office holders, including the prime minister, National Assembly speaker, governor, Punjab chief minister and federal ministers participated.
According to party sources, several key decisions like holding public meetings of Nawaz Sharif fortnightly, strategy to tackle the Hudaibiya Paper Mills and other Panama Papers cases as well as to make contact with other political parties were made.
The PML-N source told Daily Times that the meeting continued for around five hours in which the issues of some amendments regarding Article 62 and Article 63 of the constitution, reduction in powers of the judiciary and immunity of the prime minister through parliament came under discussion.
Sources further informed this scribe that the issues of demand of snap (early) elections from rival Imran Khan of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as well as an option to dissolve the assemblies before completing its scheduled time in June 2018 were also considered and participants argued with each other.
Later, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique held a media talk and confirmed that his party had made several important decisions in the meeting and now it had been decided that Nawaz Sharif would hold public meetings after every fifteen days after the scheduled Abbottabad rally.
He informed that Imran Khan’s demands for an early election was a wish of a “fool”, as such things could create democratic crisis in the country. He said that there was not party meeting at NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s home last night but was “just a dinner”. He confirmed that the meeting was held on Monday. He also confirmed that they had already made some political contacts and these would be enhanced with more parties as per the decision in the meeting.
Replying to queries, Saad said that his party’s Central Parliamentary Board would be established within the next some days, while the Central Working Committee and the Chief Executive Committee would be constituted within a month.
Published in Daily Times, November 14th 2017.
