The government probably knew that it would have a hard sell in talking to the Tehreek i Taliban Pakistan. That might explain why it shrouded those talks in secrecy, to the extent that their taking place was mentioned by the Prime Minister while talking to a Turkish news agency, and why the recent briefing to the Parliamentary Committee on National Security was kept so hushush that no reporting was allowed.
However, this need for secrecy led the government to bypass Parliament, which led former Senate Chairman Reza Rabbani to burst forth on Wednesday, and demand that it be raised. Senator Rabbani’s saying that he government could not negotiate without permission from Parliament might represent too great an intrusion on executive prerogative to win universal approval, but it cannot be gainsaid that a thorough discussion in Parliament would provide the government an opportunity to lay out the reasons for such a negotiation, as well as lay out a roadmap of how it expects negotiations to proceed.
Or is this what the government is trying to avoid? After all, the TTP is a notorious terrorist organization, and there are so many victims’ heirs who are still not reconciled with the TTP. One example is the APS victims’ families. The PM, it seems, is ready to appear before the Supreme Court rather than take the matter of talking to them to Parliament. Even within Parliament, Blawal Bhutto Zardari is himself an example of a victim’s heir, for his mother, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated by a TTP hit squad.
The government would find that whenever it goes into any negotiation, it would be strengthened by having the support of Parliament. Does the government feel that it will be unable to find such support for its position? However, if it was obliged by circumstances to take a stance widely divergent from the will of the nation, it would behave as the government is doing now, and try to avoid taking the matter to Parliament. This is particularly suspicious, because the government can exercise much control over the direction such a debate takes.
