PML-N stages walkout against NAB ordinance

Opposition leader blames government of “shying away” from coming clean on important national issues.

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Monday walked out of the National Assembly to protest the promulgation of an ordinance by President Asif Ali Zardari that transfers the powers of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief to the law minister.

Leader of the Opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan led the protesting lawmakers and sought an explanation from the government on why this ordinance was issued so secretly “in the middle of the night”. Before leaving the house, Khan blamed the government of “shying away” from coming clean on important national issues. “Why did the president issue an ordinance in such a way that even the prime minister was not aware of it?” Khan questioned, referring to a speech by Prime Minister Gilani in the National Assembly on Friday in which he expressed ignorance about the move. But the ordinance was tabled in the Senate just minutes later.

The issuance of the ordinance drew an angry reaction from not only opposition parties but also from some of the top leaders of the governing Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Khan also called it a “blunt violation of rules” that the ordinance was never presented to the federal cabinet for approval before it was promulgated.

In his speech, Khan said that it was encouraging that the government had reacted to Nato strikes inside Pakistan but called for stepping up the protest until international forces stationed in Afghanistan tendered an apology. “I will suggest that we step up our protest … we have been taken for a ride these past eight years,” Khan told the house.

Earlier, a member of the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) pointed out that Nato forces had actually increased drone attacks after Prime Minister Gilani had threatened them with “other options”.

PML-Q parliamentary leader Faisal Saleh Hayat also urged the government to share with the house the details of Central Intelligence Agency chief Leon Panetta’s recent visit to Islamabad and his interaction with the country’s political and military leadership. He also called for sharing what had transpired in a meeting among the president, the prime minister and the military chief, which was held last week. He quoted a report in an international newspaper and asked the administration to explain whether the military chief had actually demanded that some ‘corrupt’ ministers be fired from the cabinet.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 5^th, 2010.