The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) on Wednesday continued with its protest in parliament over the imposition of Governor’s Rule in Balochistan and again staged a walkout from the Senate session, as the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and PML-Nawaz lawmakers criticised the commission on the creation of new provinces in Punjab.
The session began on Wednesday under the leadership of NA Deputy Speaker Faisal Karim Kundi.
During the session, the JUI-F criticised the government over the recently-imposed Governor’s Rule in Balochistan.
JUI-F MPs clearly mentioned that nothing less than revoking of the Governor’s Rule and restoration of the provincial assemblies would be accepted and the JUI-F MPs were ready to resign from their positions in both Houses if needed.
JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman came down hard on the government for not taking the main stakeholders in Balochistan on board prior to making a decision for introduction of Governor’s Rule in the province. Later, JUI-F MNAs staged a protest walkout from the National Assembly session to record their dissent against the decision of the government.
On the issue of new provinces, PML-Q Chief Whip Riaz Hussain Pirzada noted that the issue of creating new provinces in Punjab was a Pandora’s Box, which once opened could not be closed. Pirzada said Bahawalpur was the first state that opted for Pakistan after its creation. The PML-Q lawmaker was of the view that there was no capacity for creation of new provinces and any such move would be against the constitution. Pirzada ruled out the possibility of amending Article 1 of the constitution. The PML-N members also slammed the role of the government over the issue of creation of new provinces, adding that the government was creating a mess that could not be cleaned easily.
Responding to points of order, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said the decision for the imposition of the Governor’s Rule was introduced in Balochistan after deep analysis of the situation. He said the government acted swiftly after the killing of Hazara Shias in Balochistan and stayed there until the resolution of the issue. Kaira said it was unfair to say that the government did not act on time for the resolution of the crisis.
The PPP minister was of the view that any amendment in the Article 1 of the constitution would be introduced after complete homework, adding that politicians should avoid mudslinging against each other. PML-Q’s Minister for Defence Production Sardar Bahadur Khan Sehar called the imposition of Governor’s Rule in Balochistan “beauty of democracy”.
He said the decision on new provinces would be announced after a report on the issue lands in the House. Responding to a point of order, Minister for Science and Technology Changez Jamali said the prime minister consulted all stakeholders before making the decision of Governor’s Rule in Balochistan and criticising him was undue. Pervez Malik said huge development projects had been undertaken in southern Punjab and there was no discrimination in Punjab government’s policies. Hanif Abbasi said it was wrong to abuse a whole institution or province, adding that the Punjab government was working for the benefit of the masses without any discrimination.
He said the people who were raising the issue of a separate province in Punjab were themselves living in Lahore and Islamabad. To a question‚ Benazir Income Support Programme Chairperson Farzana Raja told the House that an amount of over Rs 3,500 million was allocated for media advertisement to promote the BISP in the last five years.
PML-N walkout: Meanwhile, PML-N senators also staged a walkout from the House over the killing of their party colleagues in Karachi on Tuesday. The matter was raised in the House by Mushahid Ullah Khan, who lamented the failure of the provincial government to control incidents of targeted killings in Karachi.