Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to take all parliamentary parties into confidence over the prevailing regional situation.
Opposition leaders in the Senate and National Assembly, along with parliamentary heads of all parties, have been invited to attend an in-camera briefing tomorrow. The in-camera session will be held at the Prime Minister’s House on Wednesday at 11:30am.
Political Affairs Adviser Rana Sanaullah and Tariq Fazal Chaudhry met opposition leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai and conveyed the invitation. They also made it clear that there was no way out of the present deadlock without political dialogue.
Rana Sanaullah said the opposition had been invited to attend the in-camera briefing. He said Barrister Gohar, Raja Nasir and others had also been invited. He maintained there would be no restriction in the briefing and urged the opposition to listen to the Prime Minister and present its own viewpoint. He added that deadlock and boycott did not yield positive results in politics.
Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai objected to briefing selected members and called for a joint sitting of Parliament to provide a security briefing to the entire House. He said his party’s position was that the briefing should be given to the whole Parliament rather than a few members. He said he had been told to raise the matter before the prime minister at the meeting, adding that he would consult his colleagues and inform the government of the decision by tomorrow morning.
Barrister Gohar said his party had received the invitation for the in-camera briefing and would convene a consultative meeting to decide whether to attend.
