ISLAMABAD:
At Tuesday’s emergency session of the bicameral house, parliamentarians from both sides of the political divide found enough common ground to lend their unequivocal support to democracy and re-pledge their allegiance to the Constitution.
But Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan let it be known to all in the house that this unanimity was driven by compulsion. All opposition parties are supporting the Constitution in order to save democracy, according to Senator Ahsan. Yet, he said, this should not be seen as a blanket endorsement for the government or its policies.
“The opposition is standing by you to save democracy,” the PPP leader said, explaining that there is no instance of such support in the past.
The joint session of parliament, attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his usually absent cabinet, was convened by the government to shore up support for the embattled prime minister, whose resignation has become the rallying cry for supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT). Irrespective of their political affiliations, leaders from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) voiced support for the democratic system, rather than Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The opposition benches criticised the government for its attitude towards parliament and pointed to lapses in governance.
Govt’s narrative
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan opened the proceedings and narrated the government’s perspective of the political stalemate gripping Islamabad. Referring to speeches made by PTI chief Imran Khan, Nisar said “I had credible information that these people [protesters] would ultimately try to take over state institutions.”
The minister referred to the attack on PTV by protesters and said that he had issued instructions to NADRA to identify all those protesters who were seen in the CCTV footage.
“Today this house has to take a decision and make it clear to Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri that what they are doing is mutiny against Pakistan. A message from this house will guide the nation,” added Nisar, as he narrated how different heads of state had cancelled their planned visits to Pakistan while the president of China is also scheduled to visit this month.
Referring to the revelations of Javed Hashmi, Nisar said “I have evidence that these people [Qadri and Imran] had been using the name of the army amongst their followers and I had been informing the army leadership about this.”
“I would propose that the Supreme Court and this house summon Hashmi and Imran Khan and ask them why they dropped the names of the army and the judiciary to further their own political designs,” he added.
As if taking cue from Nisar, PkMAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai hit hard at the establishment and protesters. “How did the protesters manage to break in when there was Article 245 in place?” he asked.
Saying that it was a good precedent that the parliament had taken the right path, Achakzai said “Aitzaz mistakenly said we are supporting the prime minister out of compulsion; no, we are supporting him out of our commitment.”
‘Illogical demands’
JUI-F leader Maulana Fazalur Rehman started his speech by raising doubts about the rationale behind the protesters’ illogical demands. “There was a conspiracy which has been exposed and we will not let it succeed,” he said.
“If someone wanted to derail this system, they should accept that the plan has failed,” he added.
Asking the prime minister not to resign, Rehman said that the issue was not the prime minister, but the system. “What does a 30-day resignation from the seat of prime minister mean? How can you resign for 30 days?” he questioned.
On a lighter note, the JUI-F chief asked the speaker why he had not accepted the resignations of PTI members, to which the speaker said “the matter was delayed for the sake of reconciliation.”
Adding his voice to the chorus, MQM’s Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui lashed out at PTI but once again reiterated his party’s stance that it wanted an end to dynastic rule in the country.
While, PPP, JUI-F, PkMAP, MQM and PTI leaders were appreciated for their speeches, some members of the house seem perturbed. Senator Kamil Ali Agha from the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid [PML-Q] left in the middle of the proceedings, while Mushahid Hussain Syed, secretary general of the PML-Q, who has been off-grid despite the Chaudhry brothers joining hands with PAT, was seen interacting with several senior leaders.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2014.
COMMENTS (3)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
They are all defending democracy while people are AGAIN dying in Thar due to drought......Bilawal Bhutto I expected better at least from you.
or you could say they have united to defend each other in the face of imminent danger that people will throw them away owing to their relentless corruption on government posts and ofcourse rigged election that installed them in these positions.
Enough of speeches enough of resolve they must act promptly to bring the perpetrators to justice.Dialouge policy with conspirators against Pakistan make absolute no sense.Nation's complete indifference to inqilabis call is a referendum in favor of government and the system.Amreshpuris are badly exposed they are only a punch away begging for pardon.