President to address joint session after Muharram

Memogate and Nato air raid in Mohamand to dominate the presidential speech.

ISLAMABAD:

President Asif Zardari plans to address a join sitting of parliament immediately after Muharram, his spokesperson says amid mounting pressure on the government in the aftermath of last week’s Supreme Court decision to set up a commission to probe the memogate.

“President Asif Ali Zardari has decided to address a joint session of parliament after Muharram and called upon the government to take appropriate steps in this regard,” said a statement issued by his media office on Sunday.

Though the statement did not give any clue to what the president plans to tell or share with the parliamentarians, it is obvious his address will focus on around two issues (memogate and Mohmand Agency air raid) and their impact on national security and politics.

Judging from the wording of the statement, it appeared that Zardari would deliver a forceful address to give a strong message to “detractors of democracy.”

Top PPP leaders burst into harsh criticism when the Supreme Court last week decided to constitute a commission to probe the memogate scandal, questioning the judiciary’s powers to order a probe itself without consulting the executive.

The president has been at the heart of the controversy triggered last month by revelation that Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani had sought help from a top American general against a possible military coup back in May this year.

Also last month, Nato helicopter gunships attacked Pakistan’s border posts in Mohmand Agency, killing over two dozen security personnel.

A PPP leader said the president would for sure touch both the issues. “We should expect some significant announcements,” he added.

Under the constitution, the president is bound to address a joint sitting of the parliament at the start of every parliamentary year. According to that rule, Zardari must have waited for three more months to appear before the lawmakers.  But there is no bar on the president to address the parliament in between.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2011.