As Opposition Leader Nisar Ali Khan continued his ISI bashing and accusations of the intelligence agency sponsoring political alignments and sit-ins across the country, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani rubbished his outburst in parliament on Monday, saying “alliance-making between various political parties is part of the democratic process”. “Even if the sit-ins are sponsored, the government and parliament are not threatened, as they have strong public support and roots amongst the masses,” Gilani said.
He said the PPP had a coalition government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in Sindh and also remained a coalition partner of the PML-N in Punjab, therefore, making new political alliances with the parties having people’s mandate was not against the principles of parliamentary democracy.
He also sought the PML-N’s guidance for resolving issues confronting the nation. “We worked with complete sincerity on the PML-N’s 10-point agenda and we need your guidance and support,” he said.
Defending the role of intelligence agencies, Gilani said ISI DG General Shuja Pasha had visited the US with the consent of the government and Islamabad would fully support Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s initiative for reconciliation in his country. He said Pakistan was in cooperation with US in defence, intelligence and political fields and General Pasha’s visit was the part of that cooperation. Referring to some media reports which claimed that army chief Ashfaq Kayani had contacts with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Gilani said, “Timely rebuttal by the ISPR has nipped another controversy in the bud.”
Earlier, Nisar Ali Khan said intelligence agencies were involved in the alliance-making and sit-ins in the country. Speaking on a point of order, he said he knew the details of the agencies’ active engagement in the creation of new alliances and sit-ins of “test tube politicians”, and it was the duty of the PM or the government to keep the agencies within their limits defined in the constitution. “I know that certain test-tube politicians are dancing to the tune of the intelligence agencies, which are hectically supporting the sit-ins against drones and spending public money for that purpose.
I know which personnel of the agencies are approaching which senior members of the PML-N and I can expose details of all that if need be,” Nisar said. He said he had asked the PM to explain what mandate the ISI DG had for his visit to the US, but the prime minister only said he went to the US after his approval. “This was not the answer to my question. Do not deflect our questions, do not run this House in an undemocratic manner, otherwise we will be compelled to protest in the House and then extend it to all over the country,” Nisar threatened.
