Zardari, Kayani discuss parliament debate

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met in the presidency on Sunday and exchanged views on the outcome of the joint sitting of both houses of parliament.

The prime minister and the COAS apprised the president of the proceedings of the session. President Zardari was on an official visit to Russia when the session took place.

The issue of an independent commission to be set up by the government to fix responsibility for the May 2 US troops operation in Abbottabad and Osama bin Laden’s presence in the country was discussed.

A reported statement by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt-Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha that US national Raymond Davis, who had killed two Pakistanis in Lahore, had been released on the orders of President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani, also came under discussion.

“Current security situation was discussed during the meeting,” the president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar said.

Answering a question he said: “Anyone who claims that the president had ordered the release of Raymond Davis must be prepared to assert that the president had ordered the court to give the verdict. This is an outlandish assertion keeping in view the fact that the judiciary is independent and free.”

Sources in the presidency said the president, the prime minister and the COAS discussed the formation of the commission and its composition. A timeframe for the commission was also considered.

The commission’s constitution and timeframe have not been mentioned in the resolution adopted by the joint sitting of parliament on Friday.

Some leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-N had refused to sign the resolution and demanded that it should mention who would be members of the commission and when it would be set up.

The PML-N had earlier refused to sign the draft without including its major demand for a judicial inquiry commission comprising the chief justices of the Supreme Court and the high courts, which was made by party chief Nawaz Sharif on
Wednesday.

According to the sources, the ‘troika’ decided that the commission should comprise legislators and bureaucrats and no-one from the judiciary, because the government and the military establishment believed it would pitch the military and the judiciary against each other.

Analysts believe that the formation of the independent commission will be a real test for the government because it appears difficult that the government and opposition will agree on members’ names.

The post of the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau has been lying vacant for over two months because the two sides have failed to agree on a nominee as required by the NAB Ordinance.