Endorsement: Karachi action gets opposition’s nod

Political parties welcome govt plan with some reservations.

ISLAMABAD:

Barring some reservations, opposition parties have endorsed the government plan to restore peace in Karachi.

The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) welcomed the move but expressed concerns about the monitoring committee, which will comprise senior citizens, bureaucrats, businessmen and media persons.

“The monitoring committee could be counterproductive,” said PPP Senator Saeed Ghani. Senator Ghani also pointed out what he termed the judiciary’s hostile attitude toward the Rangers and police as an area of concern. “Cases against these two institutions will likely crop up during the operation in Karachi.”

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) also announced support for the government’s plan. Following the special cabinet meeting held at the governor’s house in Karachi on Wednesday, the MQM coordination committee said the decisions made at the  meeting looked ‘promising’ and the party would support all ‘legal and constitutional’ steps.

“An impartial operation against terrorists and extortionists should be carried out,” they said, adding that as the ‘sole representative of Karachi’ they wanted peace restored in the city. “The targeted action should be transparent… otherwise the entire exercise would be futile,” MQM leader Wasay Jalil told The Express Tribune..

Awami National Party Senator Haji Adeel said his party wished well for the move. He said the mode of operation to bring peace back to the city does not matter if the government thinks its plan will bear the desired results.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf stressed that the operation should spell an end for political parties’ militant wings.

“There should be an indiscriminate operation against the militant wings of political parties,” said PTI Deputy Information Secretary Adnan Haider Randhawa.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2013.