Opposition lawmakers urge govt to shun non-state actors

Senator Aitzaz, others cite it as reason for Pakistan’s ‘regional and global isolation’.

ISLAMABAD: Opposition lawmakers on Thursday urged the government to shun non-state actors, calling them the prime cause of chaos and unrest both inside and outside the country.

As debate on the Kashmir issue and recent tensions with India continued on the second day of the joint session of parliament, senior Pakistan Peoples Party legislator and Leader of Opposition in Senate Aitzaz Ahsan came down hard on the government for what he called its support of non-state actors.

Senator Aitzaz called it the reason for “Pakistan’s growing regional and global isolation,” as other lawmakers advised the government to look inward and review policies in order to prevent the country from becoming a pariah before the international community.

They also called for a probe into the Panama Papers leaks, saying that “only then will Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif be able to look straight into the eyes of India’s premier [Narendra Modi].”

Like the first day of debate, the first hour and a half of proceedings saw thin attendance on treasury benches with no minister or senior ruling party lawmaker except the backbenchers, especially women members.

Senator Aitzaz took the bull by the horns as proceedings began, lambasting the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government for several failures on both internal and external fronts. “It is painful that Pakistan was left alone at the Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) summit,” he said. The Senate opposition called it Prime Minister Nawaz’s ‘personal failure’ since the premier retains the foreign affairs portfolio and “never saw the move coming.”

“Why? Because non-state actors roam free in Pakistan,” Aitzaz asked and answered in the same breath. “Even local media gives them coverage,” he said, adding that such non-state actors continue to hold protests and rallies in several parts of the country. “The government had failed to rein in non-state actors as part of the National Action Plan (NAP),” Aitzaz said.



The opposition leader also criticised the statement of the federal cabinet in the aftermath of the attack on an Indian army base in Uri. The cabinet, in the statement, said: “We think Pakistan had no hand in the Uri attack.”

“’We think’ implies doubt… it means that we don’t know but our non-state actors might be doing something,” Aitzaz said.

The PPP senator also censured Prime Minister Nawaz for not mentioning captured Indian spy Kulbhushan Yadav in his address to the United Nations General Assembly last month. “I have not heard his name from the premier’s mouth even once,” he said, adding that India would be playing such an issue up if it was the other way round. “The capture of such a high-profile spy should have been mentioned at the General Assembly. Why are we hiding it?”

Aitzaz also urged the government to cement national unity and dismiss the impression that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a ‘China-Punjab Economic Corridor’. “The $46 billion investment is not more important than national unity,” he said. The senator also said it was imperative for Nawaz’s survival and global respect that he gets himself and family cleared of the allegations made in light of the Panama Papers leaks.

Like Aitzaz, PPP parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Naveed Qamar asked why Pakistan appeared alone on the Kashmir issue despite having a ‘factual position’. “It’s because we need to review our policies and look inward to change our course,” he said.

He also asked why Pakistan’s name was synonymous with terrorism in the mind of the global community even though the country was the major victim of terrorism. “[Supporting] non-state actors did Pakistan no good. Their visibility is letting us down…. The world has no patience to keep tolerating us,” he said, calling for intense diplomacy to improve Pakistan’s image.

Qamar too concluded his speech by calling for probe into the Panama leaks. “We want an unblemished prime minister.”

Awami National Party (ANP) Senator Ilyas Bilour urged the government to “end Difa-e-Pakistan Council and its activities,” asking what the country had gained by training fundamentalists. Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Mehmood Khan Achakzai backed Aitzaz, Qamar and Bilour as well.

Pandemonium

When PML-N Senator Mushahidullah Khan attempted to respond to Ahsan’s remarks after briefly consulting with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, the hall immediately turned into a protest gallery. He was constantly interrupted by PPP lawmakers, especially Abdus Sattar Bachani, who kept chiding the ruling party senator for his comments.

Senator Mushahid maintained that the prime minister “is a statesman, which is why he avoided getting embroiled in names by mentioning Yadav.” In response to opposition lawmakers’ statement on Panama leaks, the ruling party senator accused the PPP of corruption.

Referring to Bilawal’s statement that PPP will have a prime minister by 2018, Senator Mushahid said “you [PPP] cannot come to power till 2028 even.”

This flared up the emotions in PPP ranks as its lawmakers began thumping their desks and chanting “Modi ka jo yaar hay, ghaddar hay” (Whoever is Modi’s friend is a traitor).

Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah took the podium and said it was the job of the opposition to criticise the government. “We will let the government speak peacefully and we will walk out.”

His announcement prompted several ministers and the Jamaat-e-Islami chief to stop them as the speaker said “the wrong message is being sent across the eastern border.”

The joint sitting will resume the debate today (Friday) and a unanimous resolution is expected to be passed.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 7^th, 2016.