As the government’s mysterious silence over reports of a “selective military operation” in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) is fuelling speculations and concerns in the country, the opposition parties are set to protest and block the offensive in case it is launched without approval from parliament. Though the reports suggest that Pakistan’s political and military leadership has agreed to the United States’ demand for an operation against militants in NWA, no initiative has so far been taken to build political consensus, as was done before giving a go-ahead to the armed forces for action in South Waziristan and Swat. The opposition parties – the PML-N, JI, JUI-F, PPP-Sherpao, PTI, PkMAP and the PML-Likeminded – told Pakistan Today that they would resist and block any operation that launched in NWA without parliamentary consensus.
Ahsan Iqbal, spokesman for the PML-N, said the government should take parliament into confidence on any plan to launch a military operation in any part of the country. “The government should also take parliament or the entire political leadership of the country into confidence about the understanding reached between Pakistan and the US during (Secretary of State) Hillary Clinton’s recent visit,” he said.
JI deputy chief Liaqat Baloch said parliament had been reduced to a debating society by the government. “Drone attacks continue and now the government proposes to launch a military operation in NWA on US dictation… the JI has always opposed military operations as they prove to be counterproductive and serve only American interests,” he added. He said parliament had failed to change the policies of former president Pervez Musharraf.
Senator Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the JUI-F said his party had always opposed such military operations in the country “and we vehemently oppose any possible military offensive in NWA too”. He asked the government to seek parliament’s approval for its plan, if any, of launching a military operation in NWA. Giving a policy statement in the National Assembly in the last week of December 2010, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had said the government would not take any dictation on a military operation in NWA. “The government will decide where and when there would and could be a military operation,” Gilani had asserted.
PPP-Sherpao President Aftab Sherpao said launching a military offensive in NWA would not be in the interest of the country. “The country’s foreign and security policy needs to be revisited… but this government wants status quo and lacks the spine to resist US pressure,” he said. Sherpao said until now, Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership had been claiming that it could not proceed further as its hands were full “but now after Hillary Clinton’s visit, they are giving other signals”. Senator Abdul Rahim Mandokhel of the PkMAP said it was the responsibility of the government to follow the spirit of the unanimous resolution passed by the joint sitting of parliament regarding the country’s security and foreign policy. PML-Likeminded President Senator Salim Saifullah said Pakistan should safeguard its own interests. The PTI also warned the government against a military operation in NWA, terming it fatal to the integrity and security of the country.
