Punjab Assembly: Resolutions on memo, NATO attack planned

‘Parliamentary committee does not have the authority to probe the scandal’.

LAHORE: The treasury benches plan on presenting resolutions on the Memo gate scandal as well as the November 26 Nato attack during the Punjab Assembly session that starts on Monday.

Law Minister Rana Sanaullah made the statement during the pre-session briefing at the assembly cafeteria on Saturday.

He said that the business advisory meeting will fix, on Monday, the day for a debate on Memo gate and other crises the country is going through.

About the contents of the resolutions, the law minister said that the PML-N will demand that the federal government bring those responsible for the memo to justice and that it take all necessary steps to protect the country’s borders.

Sanaullah criticised the federal government for its silence after NATO commanders, instead of apologising to the nation for the attack “humiliated” the country.

“The memo’s contents represented a threat to the sovereignty of our country,” he said. He said that all those linked to the memo – President Asif Ali Zardari, Hussain Haqqani and Mansoor Ejaz – lacked credibility.

The law minister said that the Parliamentary Committee on National Security did not have the authority to conduct an inquiry into the memo scandal.

“The ISI DG Ahmad Shuja Pasha went to Washington DC and collected the required evidence. There is no need for further inquiry,” he said.

When asked why the PML-N had moved the Supreme Court over the issue, he said that the party wanted the court to fix responsibility.

Haqqani was asked to resign after all the evidence against him was shown to him, said Sanaullah.

“My sources tell me that the president, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervaiz Kiyani and General Pasha were all present in that meeting with Haqqani,” he said.

He asked that the proceedings of the meeting be made public.

Talking about President Zardari’s travel to Dubai, he said that if the president did not return by December 15 or failed to file his reply in the Supreme Court it will be obvious that his heart ailment was “a drama”.

“If he is suffering from heart disease, the Punjab Assembly will pray for his health.

If he is suffering from a ‘political disease’ we will ask for his resignation,” the law minister said.

Rana Sanaullah termed the Army’s reply that is to be submitted to the court ‘very important’. “We will have to wait and see who files their reply: the Advocate General or the Defence Ministry. If Army’s reply challenges the version of events in the replies filed by the president, PM and Haqqani, the matter will become clear. If the reply supports the government’s version then the Army will need to explain why Haqqani was forced to resign,” he said.

Sanaullah said that 245 adjournment motions, 141 resolutions and 50 call attention notices were on the agenda of the 21-day session. He added that 10 new bills will be introduced in the House and 22 bills on which standing committees had deliberated will also be presented in the House.

Also on the agenda... Question Hour

According to Punjab Assembly Rules 1997, various departments have been assigned certain days for question hour.

Excise & Taxation - December 12 (Monday)

Commerce and investment – December 13

Food – December 14

Transport – December 15

Home Department – December 16

Cooperatives – December 19

Schools & Education department – December 20

Health – December 21

Social Welfare & Women Development – December 22

Communication & works Development – December 23

Irrigation & Power – December 26

Local Govt & Community Development – December 27

Prison – December 28

Wildlife, Fisheries & Forests – December 29

Service & General Administration –
December 30

Zakat & Ushr – January 2

Agriculture – January 3

Published in The Express Tribune, December 11^th, 2011.