Nisar vs Rabbani: From war of words to privilege motion?

Exchange between Chaudhry Nisar and Raza Rabbani over number of deaths from terrorist attacks turns ugly.

ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties - sans Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) - in the Senate are considering to move a privilege motion to focus on the harsh words exchanged between Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and PPP senator Mian Raza Rabbani over the number of deaths from terrorist attacks, Express News reported on Thursday.

Today, the opposition parties met prior to the scheduled senate session to come up with a strategy to deal with the issue.The senators decided to protest against yesterday's episode in the National Assembly.

Leader of the opposition Senator Aitzaz Ahsan while speaking to the media said the opposition parties want Nisar to provide the parliament with the right figures.

“We feel the government is trying to avoid questions related to crucial matters and that is why it is dragging this issue which is as simple as taking back the incorrect numbers and acknowledging the mistake,” Ahsan said.

He added that the opposition will not let the government run away from its responsibilities.

Speaking about Nisar’s refusal to admit his mistake, Ahsan alleged that the entire government machinery is taken hostage by him.

“Many lawmakers disagree with Nisar but are afraid of saying it publically,” Ahsan claimed.

Clash

The war of words started Wednesday after Nisar presented figures of casualties from terrorist attacks - stats which were swiftly challenged by an ANP senator who called them a “pack of lies”.

Ahsan further asked the interior minister to take back the statistics and return with correct numbers.

Nisar’s response to this triggered a heated altercation among the members of the two benches.

Later the combined opposition excluding MQM walked out of the house after Nisar remained unmoved in his seat. Leader of the house in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, however, apologised for any rude behaviour.

After the opposition’s walk out, the Senate Chairman Nayar Bukhari suspended the proceedings for 15 minutes and asked the treasury benches’ members to go and bring back the estranged senators from opposition.

The boycotting senators, however, did not return to the house for almost an hour forcing the legislative business to a halt before the house adjourned.