Sharif bows to demand for talks with military Govt.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, JULY 30. The former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, today survived a threat to his leadership in the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) after he conceded the demand of the rebels for a ``dialogue'' with the Musharraf Government.

Mr. Sharif bowed to the dissidents wishes at the combined meeting of the party working committee and the parliamentary wing at the PML headquarters here. The speech of Mr. Sharif, who is behind bars, was read out to the party leaders and the consensus at the end of the day was to allow him to continue as the supreme leader.

The meeting was convened in the wake of vociferous demands from the faction opposed to Mr. Sharif. The rebels had been campaigning for several weeks to replace the ``tainted'' leader and adopt an attitude of cooperation with the military regime.

Today's meeting was billed as a show of strength by the rival factions and obviously the Sharif family managed to win the day. The rebels raised their concerns and apprehensions about the direction of the party under Mr. Sharif's leadership, but at the end of the day had to fall in line. How long the truce would hold remains to be seen.

Mrs. Kulsoom Nawaz attended the meeting as a special observer. Though she does not hold any formal position in the party, Mrs. Kulsoom Nawaz has been in the forefront of the fight against the military government. She has a grouse against the rebels in the PML that they are not willing to take on the military government and they believe that she is unnecessarily taking a confrontationist stance against Gen. musharraf.

It is against this backdrop that the green signal given by Mr. Sharif for a dialogue with the military regime is a major concession to the rebels, but the offer is not unqualified. ``I would welcome any constructive and meaningful dialogue with the present regime. However, it has to be based on reciprocity and sincerity of purpose and on the basis of mutual respect. It cannot be a one-sided desire and our dignity and honour is of paramount importance.''

Barring the concession on his willingness for a constructive and meaningful dialogue, the rest of the speech of Mr. Sharif is a no-holds-barred attack on the military Government. He has made a passionate plea to the party to join hands with other parties and forces to compel the military to return to civilian rule and restoration of democratic institutions. For the first in recent years Mr. Sharif has acknowledged that any political set-up in Pakistan must have full participation of Ms. Benazir Bhutto and other leaders. ``Their forced absence (Ms. Bhutto and others) would render any process meaningless and devoid of credulity.......the PML must spearheaded the drive for restoration of democratic institutions and it is for other parties to accept our invitation and rise to the challenge,'' Mr. Sharif said in his address.

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