ISLAMABAD: The opposition is united on boycotting President Mamnoon Hussain’s speech, stated Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah while referring to opposition’s protest during the joint session of parliament on Thursday(today).
Khursheed Shah was speaking to the media outside the parliament. He said, “there has been nothing but chaos in the government since the last year.”
The president did not speak about the problems faced by the people in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, he said while speaking about president’s address.
“The institutions have been threatened; judiciary and the armed forces have all been targeted. But, the president stayed silent on these issues,” he added. “The institutions are being challenged openly; the president has failed to perform his duties.”
“We are not allowed to speak in the parliament,” he remarked, adding that the opposition members tried to solve the issue in the parliament and not on streets. “For the first time, such a situation has come up that we have to take to the streets.”
A senator made startling remarks and immediately that Senator was removed from the post. The opposition believes that the government was behind the remarks made by that senator, Khursheed Shah said while referring to statements made by Senator Nehal Hashmi.
“The government wanted to threaten the institutions, which it has done now,” he added.
Addressing the media, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Shah Mehmood Qureshi remarked that if he was in the government he would have pondered over why the opposition is reacting so adversely.
Opposition’s protest should have the government analyse the measures they have taken to turn opposition completely against them.
“The government can get the budget passed with majority. But, this compromises the rules of democracy,” he added.
The government pushed the opposition to hold a session outside National Assembly, said Jamaat-e-Islami’s amir Siraj-ul-Haq. “Government is responsible for all its actions.”
Earlier, the opposition parties, led by Pakistan Peoples Party’s Khursheed Shah, held a meeting to devise a joint strategy regarding their conduct during the session.
