ISLAMABAD – Despite numerous sittings during the last three years, parliament’s special committee on national security has practically failed to get its recommendations implemented on issues of national security, including the US drone attacks. Although the committee has a federal minister as its chairman, the government has turned a deaf ear to its successive recommendations.
The parliamentary committee time and again expressed grave concern over the rise in drone attacks inside the country, but to no avail. In another meeting, the committee expressed concern over the rejection of Pakistan’s demand of halting drone attacks by the US. Led by Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Raza Rabbani, the committee was formed to periodically review, provide guidelines for, and monitor the implementation of the principles framed in the resolution unanimously passed by an in-camera joint sitting of the two Houses, held between October 8 and 22, 2008.
Former interior minister and PPP-S Chairman Aftab Ahmed Sherpao said that the PPP-led coalition government lacked the resolve and focus to implement the recommendations tabled by the committee. “The committee had forwarded its recommendations against drone attacks which were based on the 14-point unanimous resolution passed by the joint sitting of parliament, but the government did not implement it,” he added. He said the committee, as advised by the government, held separate meetings with officials of various ministries and passed on to them the recommendations, but only to see none implemented.
“Whenever we sought response from those ministries, no satisfactory answer was given. The committee also confronted the Interior Ministry for the formation of National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) and proposed that it should work under the prime minister, rather than the interior minister, but it was also not implemented,” he added.
Sherpao held the prime minister responsible for the government’s failure to implement parliament’s recommendations. Calling for an urgent need to review the concept of the war on terror, Sherpao said the government should hold talks with the militants, besides the military operations.
He said due to the government’s attitude, Rabbani’s focus had also shifted and the committee had become redundant. “After a lapse of around four months, a meeting was summoned for February 12 so that the foreign minister could brief the committee on Pak-US strategic talks, however, the committee did not meet as Shah Mehmood Qureshi was shown the door,” he added.
