Full throated slogans of “Go Zardari Go” echoed in the National Assembly on Wednesday as enraged PML-N legislators rose from their seats and did not allow normal business to go on, while PPP legislators resorted to desk-thumping as treasury leaders tried to make speeches, a rumpus the likes of which were last seen in the Musharraf era.
A fiery speech by PML-N legislator Khwaja Saad Rafique set the tone for the uproar, followed by PML-Q legislator Marvi Memon asking the ruling party to clarify a report on the country’s rising debt level. Saad Rafique targeted the government for its lack of commitment to set its house in order, saying despite repeated requests by his party seeking the government’s plan to restructure its policies on inflation, drone attacks, Raymond Davis case and unemployment, the government had turned a deaf ear to these demands.
He also asked the government to announce its roadmap on load shedding. Marvi asked the government to clarify its position on public debt, saying as per the government’s debt policy report 2011, the debt had crossed 60 percent of the total GDP. Rather than asking the treasury benches for a reply, the deputy speaker allowed a debate on the presidential address to the joint sitting of parliament, enraging Marvi as well as the PML-N legislators who resorted to full-throated sloganeering that continued for at least half-an-hour.
PPP legislators Mehmood Hayat Tochi Khan and Fauzia Wahab made their speeches while the treasury legislators kept on desk-thumping. The uproar drew the attention of the prime minister who was present in his chambers. Gilani came to the House and talked to Opposition Leader Nisar Ali Khan, who later directed his colleagues to stop the sloganeering. In his speech, Nisar said the House was not taken into confidence on power and gas load shedding, recent increase in petroleum prices, release of US national Raymond Davis, drone attacks and visit of ISI chief to the US.
He said the government was not taking responsibility of national issues; rather it was trying to make the National Assembly a debating club. He appreciated the PM’s resolve to run the House in a democratic manner, adding that nobody would interrupt the proceedings of the House if their queries were addressed properly. He assured the House that the opposition would fully support measures for strengthening democracy, but called on the government to own national issues and give a time schedule for their resolution.
Nisar also repeated his questions on the release of Raymond Davis and the mandate of the ISI chief’s US visit. Responding to the points raised by Nisar, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani invited the opposition to join hands with the government to make a long term economic agenda in order to steer the country out of crises. The prime minister said Davis was freed by the court after the issue was settled between the heirs of the deceased and the accused American and no federal or provincial government was involved in the matter.
He categorically stated that the country’s intelligence agencies were subservient to the government and were acting under government’s instructions and guidance. Gilani said the country’s institutions should not be seen with suspicion, adding that whatever the intelligence agencies, including the ISI did, it was on the government’s instructions and under the government’s guidance.
