ISLAMABAD(National Times)- In a significant move, PPP, a major ruling coalition partner, and the opposition PTI on Wednesday agreed to maintain contact and cooperate on legislative matters in the parliament.
The agreement was reached when PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari met Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Allama Raja Nasir Abbas at the Parliament House in the NA opposition leader’s chamber, PPP said in a post on X.
PTI Secretary General Salman Akram Raja, Tehreek-i-Tahaffuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) Secretary General Asad Qaiser, Vice Chairman Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar and PTI’s Aamir Dogar were also present at the meeting.
PPP leaders Raja Pervez Ashraf, Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar and Nadeem Afzal Chan accompanied Bilawal.
The meeting discussed parliamentary affairs and the country’s political situation. Bilawal asked the opposition leaders to join parliamentary committees and play an active role, according to the statement.
The opposition leaders said they would decide after consulting the PTI chairman, it added.
The PPP and opposition leaders agreed to increase contact regarding legislation in parliament. Bilawal urged the opposition leaders to play their role in parliament in connection with electoral reforms to ensure transparency in elections.
Referring to the transfer of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan to the hospital and his treatment following the Supreme Court’s decision, Bilawal welcomed the development, saying that it was a democratic tradition.
Speaking to the media later in the day, Bilawal termed the meeting a “good start” and said that his party wanted the House to be functional and that the parliamentarians should play their role as mandated by the public.
“If we want our parliament to be functional and its institutions or dignitaries to work, then the opposition should review their decision of boycotting the parliamentary process,” he said.
He said that he discussed reviewing the opposition’s decision to boycott the parliamentary process in the meeting.
“Whether you are sitting on opposition benches or treasury benches, everyone complains about the electoral process; [so] then it is our responsibility to make reforms in our electoral process,” the PPP chairman said.
For this single-point agenda, Bilawal said that the opposition should play its role so that a plan may be formulated for reforms in the electoral process through mutual consensus. “When a party wins elections, it celebrates, and when a party loses elections, it complains; we don’t want this.”
The PPP chairman further stated that a “communication gap” between his party and the opposition had been lessened after today’s meeting and the two sides had initiated discussions on several issues, particularly the “low-hanging fruits” such as electoral reforms.
On being asked about the possibility of the 28th Constitutional Amendment, the PPP chairman said there had been no discussions between the PPP and PML-N on the matter.
Regarding the creation of new provinces, the PPP chairman said that his party would stand by the public’s decision. “The PPP will stand with the public’s opinion, and whatever decision is taken with mutual understanding, the party will support it. We will never accept anything by force,” he stated.
On Tuesday, it emerged that the PPP had reached out to the opposition alliance to seek its cooperation and was expected to call on Achakzai today.
