PML-N threatens to quit security panel

Chaudry Nisar claims the party’s legal team has received ‘threats’ over Memogate petition.

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz claimed on Tuesday that it had received threats; the party then made a serious threat of its own.

The PML-N warned the government that it might quit the parliamentary committee on national security unless, as has been promised, a joint session of parliament is convened.

“If the government does not entertain our recommendations pertaining to the issue, we might not attend the committee’s next meeting,” Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters.

At a press conference outside the Parliament House, Nisar made the startling revelation that PML-N’s legal representatives had been threatened over the Memogate case, currently being heard in the Supreme Court. Nisar, however, did not share details.

“Our lawyers pleading for the murky scandal in the court are under immense pressure, as they were being threatened to stay away from the hearings,” Nisar said. The party’s leader, Nawaz Sharif, had filed a petition in the court seeking a judicial probe into the Memogate scandal.

The national security committee will hold its third meeting on Wednesday (today) regarding Memogate. Senator Ishaq Dar is expected to express his party’s point of view on the issue to the committee.

Nisar’s bone of contention is that Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani promised the house that he would discuss the issue in a joint sitting after Ashura. He now feels the government is not serious about its pledge, as it prolonged the ongoing session of the Senate without holding discussions on the subject.

“The government is dragging its feet on the burning issues which apparently are widening the gap between the civilian government and the military leadership,” Nisar added.

Referring to recent allegations from the government, Nisar said the PML-N would never destabilise the democratic process in Pakistan. However, he claimed, the Pakistan Peoples Party has already destabilised the country – through incompetent decisions and policies. He also reiterated that the PML-N “leadership is not in contact with the military leadership.”

Commenting on the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Nisar said Imran Khan’s party had become “a safe haven for Musharraf followers.” He termed those who had recently joined PTI as political opportunists.

Some political pundits say that many in the PML-N believe that the security establishment is behind the sudden rise of PTI. “The establishment always needs political players to work with,” a senior analyst told The Express Tribune.

Finally, the PML-N leader also demanded action against those who reached an agreement with the US for handing over Shamsi airbase to American forces in 2001. “Details of the deal should be made public,” Nisar said.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2011.