The National Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the roadside bomb attack that killed senior military officers and urged the government to “recognise their sacrifice” by standing shoulder to shoulder with the military in the fight against terrorism.
“This House strongly condemns the attack on Major-General Sanaullah Niazi, Lieutenant-Colonel Tauseef, Lance-Naik Irfan Sattar, soldiers Yasir and Ghaffar Baloch of Pakistan Army,” said the resolution moved by Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Sheikh Aftab Ahmed of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N).
Expressing deep sympathies for the grieving families, the National Assembly saluted the bravery and courage of Pakistan armed forces and reiterated their resolve to back them in their efforts to protect the country.
The resolution also called upon the government “to recognize their [martyrs] sacrifices and to come out in full support of the armed forces in the fight against terrorism.”
Shazia Marri, who belongs to the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), was reported to be behind the initiative as she was seen approaching members of the other political parties to get the draft resolution signed prior to its passage.
Despite the resolution, however, the National Assembly did not debate the incident or its impact on the fight against terrorism even on the second day of the ongoing assembly session.
IMF bailout
Earlier, the government assured the opposition that Finance Minister Ishaq Dar would brief National Assembly on the terms and conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement on the $6.7 billion bailout package. The commitment came in response to a motion by Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) members seeking discussion on the aftermath of the agreement.
Citing the IMF agreement as the cause for rising inflation, PTI member Asad Umar said that the “value of the rupee against the US dollar had depreciated and would fall to a record low of Rs 127 in the next few days.” Censuring the government for hiding terms and conditions of the agreement, Umar said that “1.2 million people are expected to lose their jobs,” because of the IMF agreement.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2013.
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“value of the rupee against the US dollar had depreciated and would fall to a record low of Rs 127 in the next few days.”
Are you sure he said that? Or did he say a few months or a few years?