Parliament vows to protect democracy

• Opp leader Khurshid Shah says it is legislators’ collective responsibility to safeguard democratic system
• Says if PTI and PAT believe in democracy and constitution then they will have to sit on dialogue table to defuse standoff

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

The parliamentarians Monday vowed to protect democracy as the National Assembly Monday chose to debate on prevailing political situation in the country after Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid moved a motion to this effect.

Initiating the debate, Leader of the Opposition Khursheed Shah said that it was their collective responsibility to safeguard the democratic system and the parliamentary leaders were ready to hold talks with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) for resolution of the issues. He said that if the protesting parties believed in Constitution, democracy and the Parliament, they would have to come for dialogue to defuse the situation.

Taking part in the discussion, Mahmood Khan Achakzai said that it was the prime responsibility of every political party to stand up for upholding the rule of law and Constitution.

Moreover, Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said that the protesting parties were making efforts to paralyse the government machinery which was not tolerable. He said judicial commission has been formed for probing the rigging in the elections and urged the PTI to prove their evidence before it. He said PTI should also use the forum of Parliament to present their point of view and avoid presenting such demands which were not acceptable.

“We have to make joint efforts to steer the country out of crisis. We should also pay attention towards the sufferings of IDPs of North Waziristan and express solidarity with them.”

Furthermore, Rashid Godil and Sahibzada Tariqullah urged the government to form a committee to engage the protesting parties to resolve the issues.

In the meanwhile, the Senate also started discussion on the current political situation.

Initiating the discussion, the mover of the motion Farhatullah Babar said a political party and a religious party had gathered people in the federal capital in the name of Azadi and Inqilab marches. He said due to the marches, all shops near the site of sit-ins are closed, traffic blocked, attendance in the offices is thin and the residents are facing huge difficulties.

Other members strongly condemned the agenda of marchers causing threat to the democracy. They proposed that a joint session of the Parliament should be summoned to evolve a strategy to address the situation.

Those who took part in the discussion include Haji Muhammad Adeel, Afrasiab Khattak, Aitzaz Ahsan, Zahid Khan, Abdul Rauf and Sardar Ali Khan.