Chief of Army Staff secret meeting with Punjab Minister

[mshoaib61]

What would be the purpose of secret meeting ?


ISLAMABAD: The corridors of power have been abuzz with
speculation since reports emerged that Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani had a secret meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif last Wednesday midnight.



Sources privy to the development told Dawn here on Friday that the meeting took place on the night between Sept 30 and Oct 1 when Mr Sharif visited Rawalpindi and went to meet the army chief without security and protocol.



The sources said that only two vehicles were present at the airport and no prominent official was present to receive the chief minister when he arrived late on Wednesday night.



The sources said Mr Sharif reached the Punjab House in Rawalpindi straight from the airport, had a shower and changed. In the meantime, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan came to the Punjab House in his own vehicle and then drove away with Mian Shahbaz Sharif.



The sources said that initially no one was aware of the destination of the vehicle carrying the two leaders, but later it became known that they had gone to the Army House to see Gen Kayani. Before the general election last year, General Kayani had barred military officers from meeting politicians, but he himself crossed the red line when he met Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan in July.



There was no word about the agenda of the meeting between Gen Kayani and Shahbaz Sharif.



PML-N spokesman Ahsan Iqbal denied that any such meeting had taken place. He even denied that the chief minister was in Rawalpindi that night. But sources at the airport and eyewitnesses in Rawalpindi are confident that Ahsan Iqbal is not telling the truth.



Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said he was not aware of any such development.

Source: DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Shahbaz and Nisar secretly meet Kayani

 

[SSGPA1]

Another report suggests that COAS laughed off the question in this regard.

It is very hard to guess anything ...

 

[XYON]

Seemingly its true as their has been no denial issued from PML (N).

If it is indeed true then DURR FITAY MUNH to the likes of Shabaz Sharif, Nawaz Sharif and Chaudary Nisar who first drag the Army into politics then bash them at every forum for political interference!

 

[Student]

Even if such a meeting took place it was between two government officials. The Army Chief met the Chief Minister of Punjab and it is part of Pakistan. when COAS can meet people for various countries around the world why can he meet people from his own country. Too much skepticism also leads one to deviance. COAS has thus far shown that he is a through professional gentleman and i have no evidence thus far to think otherwise. Our country is at war and we need to support our troops.

 

[muse]

Editorial: The Kayani-Shehbaz meeting

The news that the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and the Punjab chief minister, Shehbaz Sharif, had a “secret” meeting has not so far been denied by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department. Reports claim that the PMLN leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, was also present in the meeting.

The PMLN says no such meeting took place. But that denial isn’t worth anything in view of the general lack of credibility of party statements. Given the endemic state of political instability in Pakistan, the news has spread across the borders and the entire world has started to speculate about the meaning and significance of the meeting.

Why should General Kayani feel the need to meet a PMLN leader at this point of time? If he wanted to comment on the political situation in the country, he could have used the channel of the media. There is the constitutional avenue too available to him through which he could have met the president and later allowed the ISPR to ensure that his point of view had been put across. It is also quite possible that General Kayani wanted to take the PMLN on board on the coming offensive in South Waziristan. He may have wanted to remove the army from the attacks that will ensue in the coming days on the PPP government’s support to it. (The Jama’at-e Islami is protesting on the roads; the JUIF from within the coalition is threatening to quit, and some FATA ministers have already resigned.) But in all these cases, he should have approached the government to convey his message.

It is public knowledge that he intervened discreetly during the Long March in favour of the reinstatement of the higher judiciary and prevented it from resulting in a severe security situation. So maybe the meeting was sought by the two PMLN leaders who wanted to convey something secret to him rather than the other way round.

But a “secret” meeting can’t be kept secret in these days of a vigilant media. Therefore any such meeting is only bound to arouse unduly rash speculation in some quarters and fill some others with apprehensions. Above all, by fuelling uncertainty, it will adversely impact the economic sector, forcing investors to postpone their projects till a “final decision about the political situation has been made”. Needless to say, the environment in which the meeting took place was most unsuitable for it. The PPP government is under attack on many fronts but above all it is being pilloried relentlessly by the media for having acquiesced in the harsh “conditionalities” included the American Kerry-Lugar legislation allowing aid to Pakistan. The speculation that General Kayani could have aired his unhappiness with the American aid “conditionalities” — some of which indirectly target the Pakistan Army — is one of the most lethal outcomes of the secret meeting. So more and more people are talking about “mid-term elections” to oust the PPP government before its tenure is over. The meeting, not firmly denied so far by the ISPR, has encouraged those who think that the PPP should be pushed into the wilderness again. The issue of the NRO, brought to the fore once again by the publication of the detailed judgement of the July 31 verdict of the Supreme Court, has also triggered hopes of getting rid of the government.

The fact that Mr Nawaz Sharif is not taking part in the Lahore by-election is also taken as a signal by some for an all-out attempt at the ouster. The official postponement of the deadline for an end to load-shedding in the country has its own destabilising fallout. The aftermath of the meeting is sure to strengthen elements that see their success in political instability. That the meeting was followed by a statement by Mr Shehbaz Sharif condemning the Kerry-Lugar conditionalities has further heated up the situation of political confrontation, amid uncanny, absurd and outrageous rumour-mongering that President Zardari might be scheming to kill Mr Nawaz Sharif!

The sad truth is that every time Gen Kayani makes an intervention like a discreet phone-call or a discreet meeting, the event no longer remains a secret and opens the floodgates of destabilising speculation.

General Kayani has won the gratitude of the nation for staying out of politics in Pakistan. That Pakistan’s politics is negative and based on prejudice rather than opinion, on revenge rather than justice, is true, without the army intervening. But whenever it has in the past it has minimised the chances of things ever getting to normal. The current phase is not ideal, despite the pledges made by politicians before the 2008 elections, but this is the very juncture where the army should let the politicians sort themselves out under the Constitution.

Whatever the reasons, given the situation all round, Gen Kayani erred in secretly meeting with Mr Shahbaz Sharif and Mr Nisar Ali Khan and fuelling unwanted speculation to destabilise the regime and country. And if he didn’t, the ISPR should come out with a robust denial and bury the unhealthy speculation.

 

[Kasrkin]

Even if they did meet it would be unfair to blame General Kayani because after all Kayani didn't visit Shahbaz but Shahbaz visited Kayani. Maybe Sharif has something 'important' to say and Kayani could hardly have told the GHQ to 'pretend that he is not home'. Kayani has in no way been ambitious over the notion of meeting politicians, those who think that its him who is scheming are getting ahead of themselves. I'm sure he has more important, military-related things to do.

 

[All-Green]

A few interesting lines

The news that the army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, and the Punjab chief minister, Shehbaz Sharif, had a “secret” meeting has not so far been denied by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) department. Reports claim that the PMLN leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, was also present in the meeting.

The PMLN says no such meeting took place. But that denial isn’t worth anything in view of the general lack of credibility of party statements.
.
.
.
But a “secret” meeting can’t be kept secret in these days of a vigilant media. Therefore any such meeting is only bound to arouse unduly rash speculation in some quarters and fill some others with apprehensions. Above all, by fuelling uncertainty, it will adversely impact the economic sector, forcing investors to postpone their projects till a “final decision about the political situation has been made”. Needless to say, the environment in which the meeting took place was most unsuitable for it.

First of all if PML-N is denying it and if ISPR is not aware then it is something no body is owning upto...difficult to further analyze the agenda without any acceptance and explanation...

However, the conclusion that it will create political instability is incorrect in my opinion...the political instability due to constant bickering between Zardari and Nawaz is a key problem facing Pakistan...also the instability due to Zardari alone is enough to make all other factors seem secondary...the foreign companies so much interested in Pakistan during previous regime, all want to pull out and even Chinese are not very positive about the current feasibility for investment...we are at the lowest point anyways....

Also there is the situation and timing of this all which is before the start of a Major Military operation, certainly in this capacity COAS can take the Chief Minister into confidence and maybe share some views which cannot be made public...

Maybe COAS is playing the mediator and guaranteeing his neutrality in what shall come in the future...
It can be that PML-N wants to come out of its state of hibernation and wants to see whether Army will be neutral or not...

Lots of reasons can be there for such a meeting and it is true that it will cause some people to watch their attitude towards resolving the issues in Pakistan...if that is the purpose then not a bad move by Kayani...similar to his stern stance with Zardari during long march...

PPP needs to wake up and smell the desperation and frustration in the country...

 

[TaimiKhan]

One other point to look for is, that Army likes & prefers Shahbaz more over Nawaz, as Shahbaz has not been involved in speaking against the army nor anything about Musharaf, rather now reports coming that Musharaf had even tried to talk to Shahbaz, but due to the strong hold of Big Bro, nothing specific came to light.

Shahbaz is the only CM, who can stand against the rest of the CMs & Central Govt due to the animosity between PPP & PML-N & he is more efficient & effective in running his govt then others.

He may become the next blue eyed boy of the Army, if Big Bro monopoly is somehow broken.

 

[fatman17]

^^^the main point is that the mtg NEVER took place - it goes against the order CoAS issued to the army that no one is allowed to "mingle" with the politicians!!!

 

[All-Green]

One other point to look for is, that Army likes & prefers Shahbaz more over Nawaz, as Shahbaz has not been involved in speaking against the army nor anything about Musharaf, rather now reports coming that Musharaf had even tried to talk to Shahbaz, but due to the strong hold of Big Bro, nothing specific came to light.

Shahbaz is the only CM, who can stand against the rest of the CMs & Central Govt due to the animosity between PPP & PML-N & he is more efficient & effective in running his govt then others.

He may become the next blue eyed boy of the Army, if Big Bro monopoly is somehow broken.

It is possible that Mush wanted to bring Shahbaz back and same has been shared by some Army people who knew Musharraf...he wanted a strong leadership to eventually take over from him and Shahbaz is a tough guy and good administrator despite some personality issues...

Even now, it is best for NS to back Shahbaz as future prime minister of Pakistan...However, Nawaz Sharif has only one thing in mind...himself...

There is no I in teamwork but Nawaz focuses on the I alone and never wants to sacrifice his power and hold...his obsession with the constitutional amendment to facilitate a third time premiership is a clear proof of this...

 

[Student]

People there is no concrete reason for our mistrust in COAS MR Kiyani thus far he has shown himself to be a professional soldier. He had many chances that he could have exploited but he refused to give into the temptation of doing so. As far as Mr Sharif is concerned i dont see any difference between him and Mr Zardari. They both come from the same class of politicians that have only inflated there swiss accounts.

 

[All-Green]

People there is no concrete reason for our mistrust in COAS MR Kiyani thus far he has shown himself to be a professional soldier. He had many chances that he could have exploited but he refused to give into the temptation of doing so. As far as Mr Sharif is concerned i dont see any difference between him and Mr Zardari. They both come from the same class of politicians that have only inflated there swiss accounts.

Agreed that there is no reason to believe this all until there is an official acceptance...

Regarding NS and Zardari, yes they are both self centered to the extent that they will not take Pakistan forward.
The reason i like Shahbaz despite the many personality issues is that he is arrogant but in that he wants to do something for the people to remember him by, in this he does at least make a more serious attempt to do something concrete...

It may all be to satisfy his ego but at the end of the day any thing done is a good thing...

 

[SSGPA1]

It is possible that Mush wanted to bring Shahbaz back and same has been shared by some Army people who knew Musharraf...he wanted a strong leadership to eventually take over from him and Shahbaz is a tough guy and good administrator despite some personality issues...

It will be awesome if SS and Musharraf could work together. I even read somewhere that Musharraf and SS had good relations in the past ...

Another person is Imran Khan ... he definetly needs to be groomed for future roles (not PM) ...

I can also make myself available if need arise On a serious note, it will be an honour to work for Pakistan under Musharraf.

 

[courageneverdies]

I can also make myself available if need arise On a serious note, it will be an honour to work for Pakistan under Musharraf.

Than their will be two-man cabinet only....

1. Barrister Saif
2. SSGPA1

KIT Over n Out

 

[graphican]

Who wants to keep Mr. 10% (who is not just 10% anymore) as the president of this beloved homeland? How many hands are rager to suppor this International Bagger who stays 1/3rd of time out of country staying in American hotel and fcuking Israeli whores? How many of us want a president who spokes as Indian spokesman at the tough times instead of Pakistan's President? Who wants the ridiculous person for whom our enemies are more happy to be President of the country instead of countrymen?

We dont want Dictatorship but this face of democrasy is not acceptable either. The present leadership is all IMPOSED. Tell me who are the most influential people in the country? Zardari? Rehman Malik? Qamar-Qaira? Farooq Naek? If this is what you had asked for then DURFITTAY MOO Democracy and DURFITTY MOO who had struggled to get it.

This is time for change, even if from PPP, we dont need NRO-Beneficiary leadership. We need public representatives. Where are True PPP workers? Where are senior members who were companions of BB? This is worst form of leadership that country can ever imagine and Pakistan deserves to be cleansed of them all.