- Nisar says Musharraf will be brought back through Interpol if he defies court’s order to appear in cases
- Khurshid Shah says Musharraf overthrew elected govt, insulted people’s mandate yet govt allowed him to leave Pakistan
While the opposition members on Monday leveled strong criticism against the government during the joint session of the parliament over the government’s permission to former dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf to fly out of the country, insiders claim there is a deal in place with the opposition parties, which will allow the government to pass the bill for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)’s privatisation.
The agreement was reached between the federal government and opposition during a briefing on PIA’s privatisation bill. It was unanimously agreed under the deal that the federal government would allow the opposition to raise their protest over Musharraf’s visit to Dubai while the opposition would not oppose the government’s bid for legislation on PIA’s privatisation too strongly.
The bill will now be presented before the Joint Session today (Tuesday) and the opposition will not present a stiff resistance to the government under the deal.
For the first time since the dharna days, the treasury benches looked helpless and miffed on Monday while the opposition put them through a vice over Musharraf’s departure.
Opposition leaders in both houses of the parliament, Khurshid Shah and Aitzaz Ahsan, were joined by PTI’s Deputy Parliamentary Leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi in blasting the government over the former dictator’s departure.
While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif briefly attended the session, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan who had earlier convinced the prime minister to allow Musharraf to travel abroad was the one tasked with braving the opposition’s onslaught.
NISAR RED-FACED:
Chaudhry Nisar, for his part, played well to the gallery as he claimed that whenever the court issued an order, former president Musharraf would be brought back to Pakistan through Interpol and that he will be made to face his charges.
“Musharraf gave assurances that he will return… we will use all possible options, including the Interpol, if he defies court orders,” the minister said and then reiterated his stance that the name of General Musharraf was struck from the ECL in the light of the Supreme Court’s judgment.
Lashing out at the PPP for its criticism of the PML-N government, the minister sought cooperation from the opposition, reminding the PPP that his party had extended full cooperation to the then PPP government during their five-year tenure for taking action against General Musharraf but the PPP government maintained complete silence.
He said the PPP government did not take action against Musharraf even when his name was included in the FIR of Benazir Bhutto’s murder case. The minister also reminded the PPP that it entered into an NRO with General Musharraf and gave him safe passage.
However, the interior minister was taken to task by Opposition Leader in the Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan who asked Chaudhry Nisar to read out the court order regarding the former president on the floor of the House.
“I request you to read the Supreme Court’s order. The court did not ask the government to allow Musharraf to leave the country,” he said, adding that the minister may read out the court order to remove any misunderstanding. The minister, however, did not read out the order.
Opposition lawmakers also raised slogans asking the interior minister to read out the court order. This prompted Aitzaz to go to the seat of the minister and hand him his own copy of the court order and ask him to read it out. But, Chaudhry Nisar did not read it.
Prime Minister Nawaz did not stay in the House for long and as soon as Khurshid Shah started his speech, the premier left the house after the speaker asked if the session may be adjourned for Maghrib prayers.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Deputy Parliamentary leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi said they took oath under the constitution and the nation is questioning the compliance of the law.
He asked the government to take the nation into confidence about the departure of Pervez Musharraf from the country while he was facing treason charges under Article 6 of the constitution. He asked the government to take the House into confidence also about the deal they had made with the former dictator which allowed him to travel to Dubai.
Qureshi blasted the government for summoning the joint session of the parliament after the two houses developed differing opinions on some of the matters.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar responded to the points raised by Qureshi saying the joint session had been summoned according to the constitution and the rules of the parliament.
The minister said that joint session for legislation had been convened three times in the past and that this was the fourth time that it had been summoned.
Dar said that while the convening of the joint session for legislative purposes was perfectly constitutional, the government believed this recourse should be avoided as it gave an impression of disharmony between the two Houses of Parliament.
He said it was under this spirit that the government did not opt for joint session when the Senate amended the two bills already passed by the National Assembly. Instead, he added, the government demonstrated a spirit of cooperation by passing these bills in the amended form in the National Assembly.
Referring to a ruling made by the Senate chairman regarding the convening of the joint session, the minister said that in the past, joint sessions for legislation were convened on the advice of the prime minster made to the president.
National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said he has a lot of respect for Senators, the Upper House and the Senate chairman and will not give any ruling countermanding an earlier ruling made by the Senate chairman. He said there is a difference of opinion and interpretation between the Senate and National Assembly secretariats over the issue of convening of the joint session for legislative purposes. He said this has been acknowledged by the Senate chairman also.
Speaking on the occasion, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khurshid Shah said Pervez Musharraf overthrew an elected government and insulted the mandate of the people. He said that instead of being tried under Article 6 for treason, Musharraf had been allowed to travel abroad.
On the occasion, MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar raised the issue of the arrest of his party’s deputy convener, saying there was no evidence against him. MQM members also staged a token walkout over the issue.
So far, Mr Khurshid Shah always maintained that he had no objection about exit of Gen Musharraf. But now once in the coveted seat of Opposition Leader, he has changed his color. He should also remember that two PPP elected governments were disgracefully dismissed by civilian Presidents. Matter of fact, ALL dismisals had valid reasons. PPP's governments were dismissed twice because of inefficient and bad governance. PML(N)'s was dismissed with a more valid reason for playing foul – none other has played in the history of this Nation.
Hope the Jiyala behind the desk does not delete my comments.
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