The Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Parvaiz Kayani, held another meeting with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Sunday and it was believed that the interaction had paved the way to break the ice regarding current political turmoil prevailing in the country.
However, President Asif Ali Zardari showed no flexibility in his stance to restore the November 2, 2007 judiciary, including chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
It was a sixth meeting in past three days between General Kayani and Prime Minister Gilani. It lasted more than two hours. It is worth noting that the Army Chief did not have any meeting with the President at this juncture.
After the meeting, there were a lot of expectations that the Prime Minister would do something to defuse the tension. However, sources told Business Recorder here on Sunday that Prime Minister and COAS had reached a consensus to play their roles for resolving the current political crisis.
They said that the two leaders discussed in detail the current situation, and had made some progress towards a solution of the ongoing political crisis. Following the meeting with General Kayani, sources said, the Prime Minister contacted Nawaz Sharif, Shahbaz Sharif and other political leaders, including Pir Pagara, Asfandyar, and Fazlur Rehman.
They said that after having the backing of military leadership, the Prime Minister, who was making efforts for reconciliation, had started to move to take the political leadership of the country in confidence for making any big move. The premier in his telephonic conversations with coalition partners discussed the political crisis, sources added. Meanwhile, political situation in the country worsened when lawyers movement announced long march and to hold a sit-in for indefinite period on Constitution Avenue for reinstatement of deposed judges.