Planning minister has a plan: punishment for protesters!

• Ahsan Iqbal suggests formation of committee to determine punishment for Parliament attackers
• MPs continue to express support for democracy, prime minister

As the members of the Parliament (MPs) Thursday criticised the anti-government protesters for occupying the main gate of the Parliament and checking the identity cards of government employees and policemen, Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal has suggested the formation of a parliamentary committee to determine punishment for those who stormed the Parliament.

The parliamentarians denounced the attack on State buildings, saying that MPs were using back doors to enter the Parliament as the main gate was under the control of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) activists.

Speaking at the joint session of the Parliament, the minister said that the protesting groups had tarnished the image of the country through their provocative acts. “However, the unity shown by all segments of the society in response to the crisis has foiled the conspiracies of the PTI and PAT.”

Iqbal said that the sit-ins continuing for the last three weeks had wasted the government’s 14 months of hard work to restore the confidence of foreign investors on the country’s economy.

He said that PTI’s five demands had been accepted and now they should shun their “intransigency”. As regards the demand of Tahirul Qadri, Iqbal said FIR had been registered in the Model Town incident.

IT’S GOOD THAT WE’RE UNITED:

Taking part in the debate, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s Raza Rabbani said that it was unprecedented in the country’s history that opposition parties, lawyers and the media stand on one platform for the protection of the Constitution and the Parliament. A united parliament can only thwart conspiracies against the system, he held.

Rabbani said that the ruling party should remain wary of the fact that steps would be taken in future to break this unity of democratic forces. He added that a new mode of “bringing puppets on the streets” was adopted to dislodge the government as the 18th Amendment envisages several articles which do not allow packing up of the system.

PTI, PAT AGENDA NOT ACCEPTABLE:

Speaking on the occasion, Jamat Ahle Hadith’s Senator Sajid Mir said that both PTI and PAT wanted to impose their agenda which was not acceptable to the people of country.

He termed Khan and Qadri “semi political Taliban”, urging the government to take action if the ongoing dialogue process did not produce any result.

CLAP FOR DEMOCRACY:

Moreover, Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid (PML-Q)’s Mushahid Hussain Syed said that the joint session of the Parliament had started showing positive results as there was wider consensus amongst political parties and armed forces that Constitution will be upheld at all costs.

He expressed the confidence that the country will see a peaceful and amicable solution of the turmoil well before the visit of Chinese president which is very important in terms of further strengthening multifaceted relations with China.

Syed said that there was no threat of Martial Law but the Parliament should play its due role for strengthening of democratic system.

Awami National Party (ANP)’s Haji Muhammad Adeel said that the presence of “saboteurs” on the Constitution Avenue was creating difficulties in the movement of the people. He said the government should hold dialogue with the protesting parties but at the same time it should ensure its writ and take necessary action against those taking the law into their hands.