PPP forms committee to reach out other parties over talks with TTP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party has constituted a three-member committee to reach out other political parties over recent developments in Pakistan’s talks with the TTP, ARY News reported on Sunday.

In a statement the People’s Party has stated that it will raise the issue, jointly with other parties, in the Parliament.

The PPP special committee has been constituted on party leaders Qamar Zaman Kaira, Senator Sherry Rehman and Farhatullah Babar, according to statement.

The People’s Party on Saturday decided to reach out to its allied parties to build a consensus on the way forward amid talks with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

A high-level meeting was held at Zardari House in Islamabad under the chairmanship of the party’s co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto.

Senior party leaders — Yousaf Raza Gillani, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Murad Ali Shah, Sherry Rehman, Khursheed Shah, Faryal Talpur, Nayyer Bukhari, Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor, Nadeem Afzal Chan, Akhunzada Chattan, Nisar Khuhro and others — attended the meeting.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the PPP said that the party had reiterated that all decisions must be taken by the parliament, and thus, the parliament must be taken on board.

Taking to Twitter, Bilawal Bhutto said that PPP held a high-level meeting to discuss the issue of terrorism, particularly in light of recent developments in Afghanistan, with the TTA (Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan) and TTP.

“PPP believes that all decisions must be taken by parliament. Will be reaching out to allied parties to create consensus on the way forward,” the foreign minister wrote on Twitter.

Last month, the government and the TTP had agreed to extend a ceasefire indefinitely and continue negotiations to find an end to the nearly two decades of militancy.