SMALL STEPS TO RECONCILIATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L ISLAMABAD 000767

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/10/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL PK
SUBJECT: SMALL STEPS TO RECONCILIATION

REF: ISLAMABAD 617

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson for reasons 1.4 (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary: As a conciliatory gesture to the opposition
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N),Prime Minister Yousuf
Gilani presented April 10 a parliamentary resolution to
endorse the 2006 Charter of Democracy (CoD) and to create a
committee to review the repeal of enhanced presidential
powers placed in the Constitution by former President-General
Pervez Musharraf. While PML-N contacts reveal that Nawaz
Sharif has expressed to Gilani his party's interest in
returning to the federal cabinet, retaking the portfolios
party members once had, the PML-N Spokesman made clear to
PolOff that more serious discussion of "unity governments,"
both at the national and provincial levels, would wait until
the CoD was actually implemented. End summary.


2. (SBU) Pakistan's National Assembly unanimously passed
April 10 Prime Minister Yousuf Gilani's resolution endorsing
the Charter of Democracy (CoD),which was signed in 2006 by
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Benazir Bhutto and
Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif. The
resolution further called for the formation of an all parties
committee to review the numerous proposals for an 18th
Constitutional Amendment, all of which would repeal, at least
in part, the 17th Amendment pushed through by former
President-General Pervez Musharraf.


3. (C) The opposition PML-N is demanding that the President's
prerogative to make key appointments and to dissolve the
parliament, embodied in the 17th Amendment, be transferred to
the Prime Minister, as promised in the CoD. While PML-N
Spokesman Siddiq-ul-Farooq acknowledged to PolOff that the
April 10 resolution is a "positive first step," he further
clarified that his party would not decide whether to re-join
the PPP-led federal government until the CoD was implemented.
This move would be reciprocated with the PPP's re-joining
the PML-N-led Punjab government, ul-Farooq added. However,
amending the Constitution would be a months-long process, he
explained (reftel).


4. (C) Pakistan Labor Federation president Abdul Qadir
Shaheen informed Consulate Lahore that Nawaz called Gilani at
0100 April 10 to convey the PML-N's interest in re-joining
the federal government. Nawaz reportedly added the request
that PML-N parliamentarians who previously held portfolios in
the PPP-led GOP would regain those same positions. Such an
arrangement would return Senator Ishaq Dar as Finance
Minister and National Assembly member Ahsan Iqbal as
Education Minister, Shaheen specifically noted.


5. (C) Other Consulate Lahore contacts confirmed the late
night call, adding the PM invited the Sharif brothers to meet
in Islamabad on April 12. Deputy Speaker of the Punjab
Provincial Assembly Rana Mashood also acknowledged April 10
that a "critical meeting" between the two parties,
leadership would take place April 12, though Shaheen
separately revealed Nawaz had not yet decided whether he or
his brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would attend
the Islamabad gathering.


6. (C) Comment: It is encouraging that PPP and PML-N leaders
are both privately and publicly trying to mend fences
following last month's street protests and political
brinksmanship. However, as PML-N's ul-Farooq pointed out,
his party will now demand concrete results, not merely
promises, from the PPP's President Asif Zardari or statements
by Gilani from the parliamentary floor. For now, the PML-N
is likely to go back to being a "loyal opposition;"
discussion of a "unity government" remains premature. End
comment.

PATTERSON