ISLAMABAD:
The debate over the appointment of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Abdul Ghafoor Haideri as leader of the opposition in the Senate has prompted a Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) dissident to say his party cannot force him against his will.
“My party cannot force me to take a decision which is against my conscience,” said PML-Q Senator Haroon Khan while addressing the Senate on the second day of the debate on Friday.
Haideri was notified as a successor to Senator Waseem Sajjad, who resigned after his party, the PML-Q, embraced the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and joined the federal cabinet.
Khan said that it was his right to support any contestant and the party could not deprive him of that freedom. He rejected the argument that the opposition leader’s appointment was the discretion of the chairman Senate. “We are not going to change the rules of the game now,” he added.
Senator Jamal Khan Leghari of the PML-Q questioned Chairman Senate Frooq H Naek as to why his name was listed with members of the treasury benches. Leghari along with four other colleagues: Tariq Azeem Khan, Syed Javed Ali Shah, Chaudhry Naeem Hussain Chattha and Gulshan Saee had formally conveyed to the chairman that they did not want to sit on the treasury benches after their party joined the federal cabinet.
Another PML-Q Senator SM Zafar however argued that his party’s dissidents cannot be considered an independent group. “They will swim and sink with us,” Zafar said, adding, “In my opinion Ishaq Dar should not have accepted the support of our dissidents so as to curb horse trading.” Dar was nominated for the post of opposition leader by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.
Zafar said it was the chairman’s discretion to appoint an opposition leader and the process did not require voting. “The opposition leader should belong to the opposition party which has the greatest numerical strength,” he added.
Senator Waseem Sajjad said that disagreement with the government over an issue does not make a member from the treasury benches part of the opposition and vice versa. “Defection is one of the factors which is destabilising the system and not allowing institutions to strengthen,” he added.
Drone Attacks
Earlier, senators demanded that the government implement the parliament’s resolution on stopping US drone attacks.
Mian Raza Rabbani of the PPP said it was alarming that the US drones continued to fire missiles despite the passage of a unanimous resolution adopted by the parliament against it. “The US is continuously ignoring the resolutions of the Pakistani parliament which is condemnable,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2011.
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