Islamabad:
A quiet political storm gathered above the capital on Tuesday evening, while a sequence of high-level meetings aroused generalized speculation on an imminent change in the country’s political landscape.
In an unusual sequence of consecutive meetings on Tuesday, the chief of staff of the army, Marshal Syed Asim Munnir, called Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the House of the PMs, shortly before the Prime Minister met the President Asifi Ali Zardari in the chamber of the President while speculations are strengthened on the army chief by probably replacing the president.
High -level commitments took place in the midst of increasing speculation on a possible constitutional amendment of the 27th, with unclean reports suggesting that President Zardari could resign and potentially open the way to a successor in the presidency.
Speculation, largely fueled by social media, has also alluded to behind -the -scenes efforts to replace the parliamentary system with a presidential form of government.
However, the Minister of Defense, Khawaja Asif, while speaking to L’Express PK Press Club, confirmed that the question of the resignation of the president and his possible replacement by the chief of the army had indeed appeared during the meeting between President Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz, but rejected all these unfounded reports, adding that speculation came from a history of media which was later recovered.
Among other things, Asif also called into question the credibility of the media and its management of speculative stories. He said it was time for journalists and the media to reflect on their own “credibility”. In the environment at the rapid rhythm of today, he added, the false news spread to the other end of the world before the truth even has a chance to catch up.
In the midst of intense speculations on a potential change in the country’s power and political structure, the Minister of Defense categorically refuted all speculation, saying that President Zardari had been informed of developments and that he has shown “full confidence” in the government and the current political system.
“The President was fully aware of the issue and expressed his full confidence in the government,” Asifies the Express PK Press Club said, saying that the Prime Minister had informed the president of unconfirmed history and subsequent developments. “It’s the whole kite,” he said.
While confirming that Prime Minister Shehbaz had a meeting with the Marshal in the field before the delegation led by the PMs called President Zardari, Asif said that there was nothing unusual on this subject as Prime Minister and Marshal regularly met three times in a week to discuss various questions.
“The leader of the army has no interest in politics,” said Aif when he was asked about the opinion of the army chief about the potential change in the country’s power structure. The Minister of Defense said that the army chief already held the highest post in the army and obtained massive respect for winning the recent war against India. “He [field marshal] does not need anything, “Aif incorporated.
The Minister also rejected the conjectures according to which there were fruits between the PML-N and the PPPP in power after PML-N is emerged as the largest party of the National Assembly following the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of the reserved seats, claiming that the two largest parts of the Parliament would remain together. “We will keep a united face,” he said, “we are not only in power partners but beyond.”
Following a shared mandate during the general elections of February 8, the PPPP had helped the PML-N to form the government at the center after having concluded an agreement and divided the main constitutional offices, in particular the PM, the president, the governors, the president and the vice-president of the Senate and the president and the vice-president of the National Assembly, between them.
In response to a question of whether the 27th amendment was still examined even if there was no change in the presidency or political structure, AIF said that there was no deliberation concerning the constitutional amendments for the moment.
However, he argued that the introduction of a constitutional amendment was a legitimate process and could be used as it had been on 26 previous occasions.
When he asked him for another question, he also denied that the meeting held at the presidency on Tuesday evening included any discussion on potential legislative affairs in the coming weeks. “No legislative program has been discussed at the meeting,” he shared.
According to an official document issued by the press wing of the presidency after the meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met President Asif Ali Zardari in Aiwan-E-Sadr.
The declaration noted that the federal ministers Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Mohsin Naqvi and the PM advisor, Rana Sanaullah, were also present.
The official press release said that the discussion focused on the country’s political, economic and security situation, including the law and the order and continuous efforts to combat terrorism.
He also declared that the Prime Minister had informed the president of the government’s economic measures, and the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to work together for national stability, development and prosperity.
The meeting between the three main leaders comes at a time when the so-called hybrid model no longer works from behind the curtain, it is now entirely in the center of the stage.
Once a setting has been suspended for a long time, the hybrid system now seems to have completely matured and, in particular, is no longer a clandestine arrangement but something openly recognized, even celebrated.
With Asif by publicly saluting the hybrid model as a successful formula and the military chief receiving global recognition generally reserved for elected leaders, he has become more and more obvious that powerful stakeholders are no longer simply orchestrated from the wings, they are visibly positioned in the center.
It is in this backdrop that the high -level meetings of Tuesday fueled new speculations.
