Volte-face of Fazl, Shujaat on Abbottabad incursion

Their latest stance is in sharp contrast to the ones taken at joint sitting of parliament.

ISLAMABAD:

Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Maulana Fazlur Rehman may throw a wrench in the proceedings of a judicial commission which is set to probe this week into the unilateral US raid in Abbottabad in which al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed, eight weeks after the incident.

Both parties had endorsed the decision to set up the commission when the idea was mooted during the May 14 joint sitting of parliament.

Political observers believe both leaders’ assertions terming the Abbottabad commission an unnecessary exercise may create a controversy.

Analysts believe that their opposition will cast doubts over the composition, status and power of the commission. It will breach the nation’s trust regarding the transparency of the probe of this incident, they said.

PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, whose party recently joined the federal cabinet, gave a statement in response to PML-N’s lawmakers’ harsh speeches against Pakistan Army.

“Accountability should not become a witch-hunt to defame a national institution like the military establishment,” Chaudhry Shujaat said on Saturday, adding: “The constitution of such a commission is unnecessary.” Similarly, JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman had a couple of weeks ago opposed its constitution, fearing that if army is implicated in the incident, it “will directly affect our state’s stability”.

Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of PML-N has already written a letter to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, saying he was not consulted over the nomination commission members.

He also said that the commission’s terms of reference were also not acceptable to the PML-N as it “believes that the commission will be powerless”. The party also said that no timeframe has been fixed for the presentation of commission’s recommendations.

According to a joint resolution passed by parliament on May 14, the prime minister was required to consult the chief justice and the leader of the opposition on the formation of the commission.

“Too much delay in the formation of commission to investigate the incident triggered controversy and jolted masses’ trust in the commission’s composition, power and credibility,” observed a senior lawyer, SM Zafar. The legal status of the commission “is all right”, he added.

Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has welcomed the formation of the commission and called for a quick and transparent inquiry into the incident.

“I am surprised by the U-turn of the JUI-F and the PML-Q on the issue,” he said.

Officials told The Express Tribune that one commission member, former ambassador Ashraf Jahangir Qazi, who is abroad but is expected
to reach Islamabad on Monday (today).

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2011.