Day 2 in parliament: MPs hit out at PTI, but Shah urges restraint

Shah thanked Nawaz for holding his ground, convening emergency session, allowing protesters to come to Islamabad.

ISLAMABAD:

Emotions ran high during the second day of the week-long joint session of the Parliament on Wednesday but there was neither any resolution on negotiations with the protesting parties nor a decision taken on accepting the resignations of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf lawmakers, some of whom were present in the house.

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Shah advised the government and its allies to show restraint, declaring that “the Parliament has won today, so do not ruin the gains by accepting PTI’s resignations” as the party has re-joined talks for resolving the lingering political stalemate.

“In politics, those who show patience always win. The Parliament passed a resolution for the prime minister to remain steadfast and look, they [PTI] came back,” he said. Shah thanked Nawaz Sharif for holding his ground, convening the emergency session, allowing the protesters to come to Islamabad and not using force. “Politics is the name of patience and moving forward, Nawaz Sharif has come out as a better prime minister,” he added.

Shah had intervened moments after members from several political parties questioned Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s decision to allow PTI vice chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi to present his party’s point of view, for the first time, after submitting resignation. Thirty-one out of 34 of PTI MNAs submitted their resignations to National Assembly speaker’s office on August 22.

Chief of his eponymous faction of JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman asked why Qureshi was allowed to speak, while Awami National Party’s Abdul Nabi Bangash claimed that the protesters camping on the parliament lawns should be thrown out.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was among those seeking permission to respond to Qureshi’s forceful speech but the speaker permitted Finance Minister Ishaq Dar respond to the PTI vice chairman who had mentioned Dar several times in his speech.

But Bangash was so charged after Qureshi’s speech that Dar could not say a word despite several leaders’ attempt to calm the former down – and finally Dar decided to give up. The ANP leader was so emotional during his address that he accidently called Nawaz Sharif ‘an elected president’, but then clarified “elected prime minister”.

Hitting hard at the PTI, he claimed that the party could not even bring 0.25% of their voters to the sit-in and hence had lost the mandate.

Talking about the storming of the PTV headquarters and the protesters breaking into the Parliament House, he said, “They [pointing at the army] have given the message that a soft coup has already taken place and those sitting at the gates would soon enter this house.”

Earlier, PTI members were welcomed with ‘shame, shame’ slogans, but the speaker retorted, “This is not D-Chowk so don’t raise such slogans.”

Despite the tensions, the house portrayed the picture of a reunion of sorts, as during the break, PTI lawmakers Asad Umer, Arif Alvi and Shireen Mazari were seen amicably chatting with other MPs. However, Qureshi exchanged harsh words with Science and Technology Minister Zahid Hamid.

In his speech, Qureshi said his party was ready to talk and that PAT workers had stormed the Parliament house, not PTI’s. He spoke on the meetings with the government and urged political parties to join for the sake of democracy.

In response, Achakzai said, “This man had said the attack on the Parliament was unconstitutional and they were not involved. [Therefore] there should be a well-worded resolution with Qureshi’s signature ensuring that PTI workers would vacate the Parliament House and Secretariat.”

“There should not be any talks unless Imran Khan’s party signs that resolution,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2014.