Qureshi asks whether DCC can overrule Parliament's Nato recommendations

Says that Zardari should attend Nato Chicago summit where important decisions on Afghanistan will be taken.

LAHORE: With the pressure building up on Pakistan to reopen the Nato supply route, and a decision pending before the Cabinet’s Defence (DCC), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked on Monday whether a policy unanimously approved by the Parliament can be overruled by the executive.

Speaking at a press conference at the PTI Media Cell on Monday, the former Pakistan Foreign Minister said that the Parliament, while approving the policy review vis a vis the US and the Nato supply route, had demanded an unconditional apology and a stop to drone attacks. He asked what was being done to ensure this.

Stressing that it was important for Pakistan to attend international moots where policy regarding Afghanistan was decided, Qureshi stressed that President Asif Ali Zardari must attend the Nato conference in Chicago later this month. Pakistan's presence in the moot hinges on it reopening the Nato supply route.

Chiding the government for its shortsightedness, he recounted Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s comments from earlier in the day, when she said that not reopening the route would hurt Pakistan more. The PTI vice chairman asked that did not the government foresee closing the routes would violate international conventions, or create problems for Pakistan?

Qureshi said that even the Pakistani ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman had tried to broker an apology from the US, but that fell through after the Pakistan government took too long to act. He also questioned who was the real Pakistan ambassador in the US, as it seemed that former office holder Husain Haqqani was in control since he was a favourite of the President.

He added that the question of whether the Pakistan should participate in the Chicago conference, and of the monetary benefits from the Nato supply route were more important than our national sovereignty and honour should be answered by the Parliament, not the government.

The former Foreign Minister said that the decision to reopen the Nato supply route cannot be taken by the DCC.

Qureshi said that they would call a party meeting on formulating a policy to protect Pakistan's interest in reopening the Nato supply route. Imran Khan will be advised to stage a national conference on how to tackle national security issues of Pakistan, especially the Nato supply route, at this meeting.