ISLAMABAD: A meeting of parliamentary leaders on the revival of military courts once again ended in stalemate on Friday, with further deliberations put off till Tuesday. It was the seventh meeting convened to reach a consensus on the issue of extension to military courts in the wake of the precarious security situation in the country. A decision on the tenure of military courts was deferred to a new sub-committee formed to deliberate on the constitutional amendments required to revive military courts. The sub-committee’s meeting, however, failed to definitively settle the issue. In the meeting, chaired by the Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid, the government agreed to revise its demand for a three-year period for military courts down to two. “If all parties agree, military courts can be revived for a period of two years [instead of three],” Hamid said. However, the opposition was not immediately forthcoming with an agreement. “The PPP is intent on calling an all-parties conference to discuss military courts and the constitutional amendments proposed by the government,” Qamar added. In the revision process, the government also added clauses to put anti-state activities within the purview of military courts. “Anti-state activities and violent acts against the state have been included in our proposal,” Hamid said. “The proposed amendments, along with a bill regarding necessary amendments to the Pakistan Army Act, will be sent to parliamentary leaders,” the law minister said. “Parliamentary leaders will present their views on these issues in the Feb 28 session of parliament after consulting with their party leaders,” he added. Naveed Qamar raised objection that the government had added the words “against the state” in the draft. “The proposal will be presented to our party leadership for approval,” PPP MNA Naveed Qamar said. PPP and MQM have suggested that the extension to military courts should be granted for a period of one-and-a-half year instead of three years. The opposition parties have also opposed the words “religious terrorism” in the amendment draft. Three political parties including PPP, MQM and JUI-F have agreed to incorporate new proposals in the draft. They have also floated the suggestion that a new committee should be constituted on the issue of extension of military courts, which must have the mandate to keep an eye on the performance of the military courts. Naveed Qamar told journalists after the meeting of the parliamentary leaders that federal government had advised PPP to contact army leadership if they continue to disagree with extension to military courts. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has told Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah to either attend the meetings or nominate a representative to which Shah has assured him that he will participate in the meetings after consultation with Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Zardari. Law Minister Zahid Hamid told the meeting that although PML-Nhas two-thirds majority in parliament, it doesn’t want to bypass other political parties on the issue of extension to military courts.”Consensus needs to be developed to pass the amendment unanimously,” he said. PPP has also decided to convene an all-parties conference on March 4 to deliberate on the issue of proposed extensions in the tenure of military courts. According to a statement issued by PPP on Friday, the conference will be held in Islamabad in which the leadership of all political parties will be invited.The official invites to political leaders will be issued from Saturday (today), it added. Earlier the PPP, after staying away from Thursday’s meeting, agreed to attend the meeting on Friday after the government established direct contact with party chief Asif Ali Zardari. PPP’s parliamentary leader Syed Naveed Qamar had confirmed that he and other members of the PPP, including Zardari, had been approached by several government ministers and high-ups with the request to end the boycott. Military courts were established and granted permission to try civilians charged with terrorism in Jan 2015 after a terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar in Dec 2014. The courts have been non-functional since Jan 7 after the expiry of the two-year constitutional cover given to them.