Memogate row: Opposition parties mull quitting parliamentary panel
Suspect that since govt has a clear majority in committee it can ‘hush-up’ or influence proceedings.
ISLAMABAD:
Wary of the government’s ‘intentions’ over the issue of the Memogate, some political parties are considering quitting the parliamentary committee on national security – a step that would make proceedings of the key panel virtually redundant.
Politicians, mainly from opposition parties, suspect that since the PPP-led government has a clear majority in the 17-member panel it can ‘hush up’ the proceedings using their numerical superiority.
The committee, headed by Senator Raza Rabbani, will have two sessions on December 30 – one on the Memogate issue and the other on the Nato airstrike on Pakistani check posts.
Representatives of the Jamat-e-Islami and PPP-Sherpao have expressed their concern over the situation within the committee.
Talking to The Express Tribune, they expressed reservations over the government’s ‘intent’, after participating in a few meetings over the past weeks.
“Although I have yet to take a final decision, I am considering on quitting these proceedings because the committee can neither hold forensic investigations nor is it a forum that can give a verdict over these important issues,” said Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, who heads his own faction of PPP known as PPP-Sherpao.
Sherpao said he was in contact with members of the PML-N who, he said, is also on the same page. He added that they will meet them again for consultation before taking a final step.
PML-N parliamentary leader Ch Nisar Ali Khan hinted during a press conference last week that his party might boycott the committee proceedings. However, PML-N representatives attended a committee meeting the very next day.
During the meeting, PML-N members told Rabbani that since their party had moved the Supreme Court over the Memogate, they could quit the proceedings.
PML-N information secretary Mushahidullah Khan told The Express Tribune that his party has solid justifications to ‘abstain’ from the committee proceedings, since PML-N is a party in the case.
“Even if we attend the meetings our proposals will be to implement whatever verdict the Supreme Court hands down,” he said.
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hasan ‘strongly demanded’ that the government let the Supreme Court do its part over the Memogate issue. “The agitation and stir shown by the premier and his companions gives a feeling that something is being cooked somewhere,” he said.
Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmed endorsed Sherpao’s view on the situation, saying, “If the government tried to misuse this important forum just to accomplish its objectives, which is quite obvious, I would also be left with no other option but to boycott the proceedings”.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2011.
Wary of the government’s ‘intentions’ over the issue of the Memogate, some political parties are considering quitting the parliamentary committee on national security – a step that would make proceedings of the key panel virtually redundant.
Politicians, mainly from opposition parties, suspect that since the PPP-led government has a clear majority in the 17-member panel it can ‘hush up’ the proceedings using their numerical superiority.
The committee, headed by Senator Raza Rabbani, will have two sessions on December 30 – one on the Memogate issue and the other on the Nato airstrike on Pakistani check posts.
Representatives of the Jamat-e-Islami and PPP-Sherpao have expressed their concern over the situation within the committee.
Talking to The Express Tribune, they expressed reservations over the government’s ‘intent’, after participating in a few meetings over the past weeks.
“Although I have yet to take a final decision, I am considering on quitting these proceedings because the committee can neither hold forensic investigations nor is it a forum that can give a verdict over these important issues,” said Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, who heads his own faction of PPP known as PPP-Sherpao.
Sherpao said he was in contact with members of the PML-N who, he said, is also on the same page. He added that they will meet them again for consultation before taking a final step.
PML-N parliamentary leader Ch Nisar Ali Khan hinted during a press conference last week that his party might boycott the committee proceedings. However, PML-N representatives attended a committee meeting the very next day.
During the meeting, PML-N members told Rabbani that since their party had moved the Supreme Court over the Memogate, they could quit the proceedings.
PML-N information secretary Mushahidullah Khan told The Express Tribune that his party has solid justifications to ‘abstain’ from the committee proceedings, since PML-N is a party in the case.
“Even if we attend the meetings our proposals will be to implement whatever verdict the Supreme Court hands down,” he said.
Jamaat-e-Islami chief Munawar Hasan ‘strongly demanded’ that the government let the Supreme Court do its part over the Memogate issue. “The agitation and stir shown by the premier and his companions gives a feeling that something is being cooked somewhere,” he said.
Senator Professor Khurshid Ahmed endorsed Sherpao’s view on the situation, saying, “If the government tried to misuse this important forum just to accomplish its objectives, which is quite obvious, I would also be left with no other option but to boycott the proceedings”.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2011.