The fourth joint sitting of the Parliament will be held today at 11am where top political leadership of the country will debate over the issue of sending Pakistan’s armed forces to Saudi Arabia on Yemen crisis.
The joint session was summoned to meet by President Mamnoon Hussain on the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to evolve a national consensus over a heated debate triggered in media over the Middle East situation.
The session was convened in wake of a formal request made by the Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz urging Pakistan to provide human resource and technical assistance to Saudi Arabia to combat the rebel groups inside Yemen.
A source in Defence Ministry told Pakistan Today that the military leadership had passed the buck to the civilian leadership over the subject matter, saying it would follow any decision taken by the political leadership.
However, some members of the federal government insist that the government had already taken decision to send troops to Saudi Arabia and combat troops would be sent once the Parliament’s nod is secured by the government.
“Though decisions have been taken but the parliamentarians will be encouraged to talk-out the debate. Leaders of major political parties have already been contacted by the government and it is hoped that they would back the government-led resolution to send the troops to Saudi Arabia. Once the consensus is achieved, troops would be sent to Saudi Arabia where the ten-nation coalition would decide what task they would be assigned,” an informed source told this scribe.
“The only thorn in the way of the PML-N government is PTI chief Imran Khan but after some back-channelling, it is hoped that the PTI would behave and no fuss would be created by Khan who is already alone among the political leaders,” the source added.
The source said that the government had completed its homework and it hoped an easy ride during today’s session.
Earlier, the top civilian and military leadership convened two successive meeting to thrash out a strategy to deal with the Saudi request, however, massive public and media pressure compelled both to go for a national debate over the matter.
The premier also went on a daylong visit to Turkey to consult Turkish leadership and assess the situation. The leaders of both the countries called for peaceful means to resolve the Yemen crisis.
During the joint session today, the political leaders would come up with the ideas whether or not Pakistan’s armed forces should be sent to join the ten-nation Arab alliance to pound the rebel held areas of Yemen.
Speaker National Assembly Sardar Ayaz Sadiq would chair the session. However, the hallmark of the joint session would be the return of PTI lawmakers to the Parliament as Imran Khan-led main opposition on Sunday decided to return to the parliament after their major demand was approved by the political leadership for formation of a high-powered judicial commission to conduct a thorough vote audit of 2013 general elections.
The prime minister would also attend the significant session while the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) and others would also be represented by their parliamentarians to evolve a joint strategy over the subject matter.
Defence Minister Khwaja Mohammad Asif will table a motion to start the debate. “The House may discuss security situation due to Yemen crisis,” a copy of the motion to be presented by the defence minister reads, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today.
The prime minister may initiate the proceedings by reading out a policy statement. All the political leaders and some of other important lawmakers would take part in the debate.
Following the speeches, a resolution would be tabled for voting, providing the government the views of the majority of the political leadership over the issue. However, the government would try to get approved a unanimous resolution.
Under rules, no other subject can be discussed during the joint session other than the motion to be tabled by the defence minister.
The defence minister who had led a Pakistani delegation to Riyadh where he held meetings with high-ranking Saudi officials including his counterpart would also brief the joint session about his visit.
