[Reader-list] PK - Fwd: Political deal worked out - By Rauf Klasra

[yasir ~يا سر]

 Political deal worked out       Friday, March 13, 2009
By Rauf Klasra

ISLAMABAD: A new political deal, backed by Washington, London and the
establishment, has quietly been conveyed to Prime Minister Yousuf Raza
Gilani to bring down the political temperature, well-placed sources confided
to The News on Thursday.

As part of the deal, the prime minister has been asked to immediately
convince beleaguered President Asif Ali Zardari to demonstrate the
flexibility required to break the present deadlock before the long march
could reach Islamabad.

Gilani has reportedly been given 24 hours to convince Zardari into agreeing
to the new political and constitutional arrangement, as further delay will
not produce any positive results for the political forces currently on the
warpath.

After several rounds of talks with the key political players, officials
disclosed, the US ambassador and the UK high commissioner to Pakistan came
up with a new formula to bring the perilous situation under control. Gilani
was tasked with taking Zardari into confidence on the salient features of
the accord.

The Punjab governor would be a likely casualty of the deal, one insider
disclosed, suggesting that Salmaan Taseer might be shown the door. Just like
Zardari, Taseer is seen as a major hurdle to normalisation of the working
relationship between the PPP and the PML-N.

The ball is now firmly in the court of President Zardari, who has to take a
decision swiftly on endorsing the agreement brokered by powerful
international actors. The Army will act as a guarantor of the fresh
arrangementís success, according to knowledgeable quarters.

Sources claimed that Gilani, the Army chief, the Americans and the British
were in favour of the new political pact, which may be accepted or rejected
by Zardari, whose fate will largely depend on his decision.

A new constitutional package would be part of the deal between the PPP and
the PML-N. Major irritants will be removed through parliament, with the
Americans still favouring the political order in place in Islamabad and
Lahore as a result of the last yearís general election.

Expected to be implemented in the next 48 hours after a Gilani-Zardari
meeting, the new initiative includes restoration of deposed chief justice
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Although, there has been no meeting between
Gilani and Zardari since the presidentís return from Iran early Thursday
morning, the two leaders are said to have talked on telephone.

A meeting between the president and the PM — as and when it takes place —
will determine the fate of the deal. Should the president spurn the plan,
the situation may get worse and the ëpowers involvedí will be left with no
option but the ëminus-one formulaí to save the system.

Background interviews with top-level officials revealed that the PML-N would
be given a fair chance to form its government in the Punjab by bringing in a
new face in place of Shahbaz Sharif.

Sources said Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani told the prime minister at Thursdayís
meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes, to get the new arrangements through
within 48 hours. In the light of his deliberations with Kayani, the PM will
hold the decisive round of talks with the president.

A constitutional committee is said to be part of the deal to be inked
between the government and the PML-N, which may also submit a new package of
reforms in line with the Charter of Democracy. The condition barring the
election of a prime minister or a chief minister for a third term will also
go.

One proposal to break the deadlock on the judgesí issue is to revive the old
proposal of two chief justices — one dealing with the legal side of the
Supreme Court and the other with the constitutional side.

Justice Sardar Raza and Iftikhar Chaudhry will likely hold these positions.
An official familiar with the latest developments said that the top military
leadership was of the view that the time had come to ìmarginaliseî the
president. Certain measures were needed to create a balance of power, he
added.

General Kayani reportedly asked Gilani to have a straight talk with the
president so as to defuse the explosive situation. Gilani agreed to the new
arrangement and dropped a clear hint at an early understanding between the
warring political forces.

The sources divulged that as the back-channel contacts between Zardari and
Nawaz were still open, Shujaat Hussain rejected on Thursday the idea of his
party fielding a candidate for the Senate chairman against the PPP nominee
Farooq H Naek. Two PML-Q Senators — Salim Saifullah and Jamal Leghari — were
ready to contest the election but Shujaat informed them that he was busy in
negotiating a secret deal with Zardari on forming a coalition government in
the Punjab and any Senate contest might jeopardise the plan.

Himself eyeing the slot, Shujaat rejected Salim Saifullahís demand to make
him the opposition leader in the Upper House. Former president Farooq
Leghari had desperately tried to stop Shujaat from letting Naek become the
new Senate chairman without a contest.