VIABLE CONSTITUTION
NO DEAD LOCK
IN TALKS
Mr. Z. A.
Bhutto's statement in
his three days talks with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Mr.
Z. A. Bhutto, Chairman of the Pakistan People's Party, said here today that
within national unity he and his party would go as far as possible to find a
permanent formula for framing a viable and acceptable Constitution.
Mr.
Bhutto, who yesterday concluded three-day talks with Awami League Chief Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman, told a Press Conference that he had come here to find the areas
of agreement and search for common factors and try to rekindle the spirit of
fraternity understanding and co-operation.
Mr.
Bhutto said: "We have genuine difficulties, and we need time at least up
to the end of February to make a comment on it."
He,
however, said that he was neither satisfied with the talks with Sheikh Mujib
nor were these talks a failure. "The dialogue should continue," he
added "There was no deadlock in our talks," he said.
He
said: "We understood each other's viewpoints and we would have to explain
our viewpoints to our people and their representatives before we meet next
time. The task was a challenging one and we will have to resolve many of our
problems-a legacy of the past 23 years."
"
How can you expect us to solve the problems of 23 years in three days T"
he asked.
*
*
*
He
could see a danger signal ahead for the nation, he said and added that he was
in favour of dialogue and negotiation for overcoming what he described as
"a national stake".
He
said: "When necessary I will come to
Mr.
Bhutto analysed point by point the Six-Point Programme of the Awami League and
the 11-point programme of the student community of the province.
Constitution
should be based on consensus
Taking
both the programmes together, he announced his acceptance for 12 of these 17
points--excluding the five which dealt with provincial autonomy on the basis of
the Lahore Resolution and a Constitution on the basis of Six-Points.
He
would not comment on them because "we have got genuine difficulty and we
need time for consultation to see how far we can go for a consensus".
But
he described as ideal the point No. 1 of the Six-Points so far as it advocated
a genuine federation in a true sense. He said he was a firm believer in one
The
four points of the Awami League on which Mr. Bhutto made no comments pertain
to the transfer of Provincial and Central subjects, currencies, foreign trades,
federating states and their accounts.
The
second point of the students' demands relates to the Six-Point Programme.
National
Assembly Session
About
the convening of the Constituent Assembly on February 15 as suggested by Sheikh
Mujib, the PPP Chief remained non-commital, but said there was nothing wrong
"if we take time up to the end of February at least".
Asked
if he intended to suggest delaying the session to the President, he replied in
the negative.
"Some
essential things will have to be accomplished before we come to attend the
session" he said. "We must meet the leaders of all shades of opinion
in
He
said, however, that he fully shared the anxiety of Sheikh Mujib for breaking
the present transition which was giving rise to new problems every day.
"But for the greater interest of the nation" he added "its
solidarity, integrity and fraternity there is nothing wrong in asking this 15
days time to solve the difficult task we have here for a permanent and lasting
solution of constitutional problem".
Mr.
Bhutto said that it was not necessary to enter into the Constituent Assembly
with an agreement on different issues because negotiations could continue even
when the House was in Session.
Asked
if, in his opinion, the Awami League with its present absolute majority in the
House was competent to frame a Constitution, Mr. Bhutto said: "Legally
speaking they can, but the question to be decided by the House is whether the
Constitution will be adopted by a simple majority or by two-thirds majority.
Since the question is of making a Constitution and our geographical position is
peculiar, the majority adopting the Constitution should include a
consensus."
In
this connection, he cited the example of One Unit which he said, could not
survive because the idea lacked a consensus of all the four provinces of
When
a correspondent wanted to know of the `genuine difficulties' Mr. Bhutto was
often referring to during the Press Conference, the PPP Chief invited him to
visit
The
People's Party Chief renewed his warning to the vested interests who,. he said,
had been trying to "frustrate an early transfer of power to the elected:
representatives of people".
He
said that since the two winning parties were committed to the people on
nationalisation, the industrialists had become active in this direction.. Many
of these anti-Socialists and exploiters, he added, were making frequent visits
to both East and
(THE
PAKISTAN TIMES, Lahore-January 31, 1971)
Source: