ISLAMABAD: Thanks mainly to the lack of a clear stance on the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, the government came under attack once again in the National Assembly on Wednesday.
Instead of putting up a defence, the treasury benches beat a retreat, forcing the opposition to call quorum and embarrassing the government for its failure to keep the house in order.
While the house is in session, it is the responsibility of the government to keep at least a quarter of lawmakers — at least 86 — present on their seats. After quorum was called, the house lacked the mandatory numbers, which forced the speaker to adjourn the session until Thursday morning.
Since the PML-N came to power, shortage of attendance has become a serious issue in the National Assembly, where the party holds a two-thirds majority. Hardly, any sitting of the National Assembly passes without the government being embarrassed due to a lack of quorum.
The tone of Wednesday’s sitting was set by Leader of the Opposition Syed Khurhseed Shah who said the government’s increasingly indifferent attitude towards parliament was a matter of grave concern.
Quorum pointed out in NA; only Awais Leghari backs official stance. “The way the government is treating parliament, people are losing confidence in democracy,” he said.
The veteran PPP lawmaker reminded the government that this parliament provided it breathing space and would continue to do so when it faced challenges.
However, “the treasury benches are ignoring this house,” he said.
He said that all parliamentary opposition parties had asked the government for its course of action on the Riyadh-Tehran feud, but it seemed the government was waiting for the Saudi foreign minister before making up its mind.
Repeatedly highlighting the prime minister’s lack of interest in the National Assembly, Mr Shah also underlined how — by not convening a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) — the government was in violation of the Constitution. “The government is not calling a meeting of CCI out of the fear that Sindh and KP will demand their due rights,” remarked the opposition leader.
PTI MNA from Lahore, Shafqat Mehmood, who is a regular in the house, questioned the vision of the government on key issues. “Population explosion, water scarcity and ever deteriorating civil services are three areas where the government is paying no attention. As a result, more and more people are suffering,” he said.
He said that if current trends continued, it would only lead to anarchy and called upon the government to put its house in order. He also demanded the government to take the house into confidence about the prime minister’s telephonic conversation with his Indian counterpart in the aftermath of the Pathankot attack.
“If India has provided some leads to Pakistan about the terrorists who struck the airbase, they must be shared with us,” he said, adding that the government’s ambiguous stance over the ongoing Iran-Saudi rift was only adding to the confusion.
Nafisa Shah of the PPP and Dr Arif Alvi of PTI also had some tough questions for the government. Both asked if the much-touted Orange Line Metro Train Project in Lahore was part of the CPEC. Ms Shah said “this house must be taken into confidence over the exact contours [of the Rs200 billion project]”, for which the federal government had provided a sovereign guarantee.
She also said that the ruling party was most non-transparent in carrying out projects. PTI’s Dr Alvi and Asad Umar had even moved a privilege motion in the National Assembly against Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who they claimed, on different occasions, had put the project under the CPEC and separately classified it as an initiative of the Punjab government that had nothing to do with the corridor. Such misinformation about the CPEC will only create misgivings among smaller provinces, said Mr Alvi.
Only Awais Leghari, chairperson of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, made an attempt to defend the government. “I think this is the best the government can do at the moment because not only Pakistan, but all international and regional powers have expressed their concerns over the impasse.”
Assuring the house that his government would take the best possible course of action, Mr Leghari, who joined the ruling party only before the last general elections, said, “As chairman of the standing committee I have already asked for an in-camera meeting with the adviser on the matter.”
After Mr Leghari’s speech, a PTI lawmaker quipped, “I don’t think you (Mr Leghari) will be able to play any role in influencing the foreign policy-making of the country because the foreign office is too crowded at the moment.” http://www.dawn.com/news/1231322/opposition-wrong-foots-govt-over-middle-east-crisis
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