News
Saturday, November 09, 2013
Opp indignant over PM’s continuous absence from NA* Threatens another protest outside parliament against government’s attitude
By Tanveer Ahmed
ISLAMABAD: The opposition parties in the National Assembly, except the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), Friday expressed indignation over the continuous absence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from the House and walked out in protest against the premier’s perceived silence on the dialogue with Taliban.
The cooperation by the government and opposition over the local bodies’ elections just a day earlier evaporated on Friday as soon as the session started. Opposition leader Syed Khurshid Shah’s outburst against the “non-serious attitude of the government” charged up the atmosphere of the Lower House of parliament. The opposition parties’ members were furious over the long absence of the prime minister from the House. They also appeared angry over the absence of Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who was supposed to wind up the debate on drone strikes, which was being discussed since the start of the session.
The deputy speaker tried to calm the opposition lawmakers by saying that federal minister for science and technology has assured that the interior minister would wind up the debate on Monday but to no avail. “I think another tent would be erected outside parliament against the attitude of government in the House,” Khurshid Shah said in an angry tone while referring to the opposition senators’ protest outside the Parliament House. Lawmakers from opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Awami National Party (ANP) and Awami Muslim League vowed to continue the boycott of the proceedings until the prime minister took them into confidence and gave a policy statement about the dialogue with Taliban on Monday.
Khurshid Shah claimed that the non-serious attitude of the government over such an important issue is a matter of concern. The opposition members, he said, would boycott the proceedings of the House until the government takes them into confidence over talks with Taliban. The opposition leader said that the government is not giving any importance to parliament, and noted that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has not appeared in the Senate or National Assembly for the last five months.
Meanwhile, Shah Mehmood Qureshi of PTI said that the members of the House and the people of the country are unaware of the dialogue process with Taliban. He said that the government must clarify its position in this regard. Speaking on his turn, Shaikh Rashid Ahmad said that due to price hike daily-use items have gone out of the reach of the common man. He said that the issues being faced by the common people should be properly discussed in the House.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk