ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Tuesday that the federal cabinet “rightly decided” last week that the process of political reconciliation with the opposition PTI was over.
He was addressing a Senate session following the imposition of governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and emergency in 12 of its districts, for which the Centre had cited the provincial government’s “deliberate disengagement” from the fight against terrorism.
Regarding the collapsed negotiations between the federal government and PTI earlier this month, the deputy premier stressed that the PPP and PML-N had both made efforts to reach a point of understanding with the PTI, but failed.
“They said they would talk about it, then consulted with their chief minister, and after that, virtually, they refused,” he said.
He added, “Political reconciliation can be secured when other things are … equal. Other things have gone in a very bad, very wrong direction in this country and particularly in the province.”
Addressing the session, DPM Dar stressed that “everybody has the right to get elected” but that it mattered where you “take” the government.
He noted that he himself had been among those who supported the granting of an extra one per cent of the gross pool to KP during the National Finance Commission (NFC) negotiations, so that it could “prepare itself for the war against terror”.
“Rs800 billion has gone in this,” he said, questioning where this money had been spent in the province, including on a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) or in funding for law enforcement agencies (LEAs), or even the establishment of a forensic lab.
While stressing that “we are all Pakistanis” and shared the same loyalties, Dar urged reflection on the state of the country and especially the province.
Regarding arguments that terrorism was also prevalent in Balochistan, he highlighted that the Balochistan government was “fully on board” with fighting terrorism.
The deputy premier added that when Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the JUI-F came to play his part in breaking the deadlock in negotiations, “things had gone far beyond”. He said that he had told Fazl that the matter would be presented in the Cabinet and that the results of this would be shared with him.
“His proposal was presented to the Cabinet, but the Cabinet asked: ‘How long will this go on?’” Dar said. “‘The CM (chief minister) is sometimes in Sindh, sometimes Punjab, and now they are mobilising people.’”
He also claimed that there was proof KP’s resources were being used by the PTI’s private account and not the provincial account.
“We are all common citizens of this country,” he said. “For 13 years, we have seen this ruin happening.
“I think the Cabinet rightly decided … the political reconciliation is over.”
He added that “reconciliation” could be talked about 100 times, but first the issue of ending terrorism in the province needed to be addressed.
Dar slammed the conduct of now non-functional KP CM Sohail Afridi since he came to power last year, saying, “He has been unable to perform, to do anything, (make) any improvement.”
He also highlighted the external problems being felt in Pakistan, including the Middle East conflict that spiked energy prices sharply this year, asking whether the country could really afford to deal with increased numbers of terrorist attacks.
The deputy premier said that the Cabinet had told the JUI-F chief four demands for the PTI, including that it change its chief minister and denounce terrorism — “Hand on your heart… how many times have you heard the PTI and its leadership denounce terrorism?” he challenged.
“Listen to his (Afridi’s) speeches! The things he was saying in these few weeks? Just to mobilise and provoke people against the country — do they want to set fire to the whole country?” he emphasised.
“The Cabinet rightly said that this will not happen.”
Additionally, he said the PTI needed to join forces with the federal government to fight terrorism, and that fourthly, they would accept that an emergency would be declared in only limited districts. However, he said that no response came from the party.
He added that the changing of chief ministers happened constantly and should not be an issue: “If he can’t perform, and if his conduct is totally unbecoming of a chief minister,” then he should be removed, he said.
He further criticised the now non-functional chief minister, questioning how many days he had actually spent in the province and slamming his use of KP’s resources to mobilise people of other provinces. He alleged that Afridi’s goal was to “bring back May 9”.
“The matter has gone far beyond political reconciliation,” the deputy prime minister stated, adding that it was “established” that the KP government had done nothing in 13 years to equip its institutions to combat terrorism.
“Whatever has happened is according to the law and Constitution,” he added.
Parliament approval for governor’s rule
President Asif Ali Zardari had on Sunday issued proclamations of emergency and governor’s rule under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution, respectively.
According to Article 232, in case the president “acts on his own” — which was not the case for KP as he acted on PM Shehbaz’s advice — the proclamation of emergency is to be placed before both houses of Parliament for approval by each house within 10 days.
It also empowers Parliament “to make laws for a province, or any part thereof, with respect to any matter not enumerated in the Federal Legislative List” during emergency.
Meanwhile, a proclamation for governor’s rule issued under Article 234 “shall be laid before a joint sitting and shall cease to be in force at the expiration of two months, unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by resolution of the joint sitting and may by like resolution be extended for a further period not exceeding two months at a time”.
In the upper house, Senator Kamran Murtaza of the Jamiat Ulemai-i-Islam–Fazl (JUI-F) had submitted a resolution on Monday opposing the imposition of governor’s rule in KP.
President Asif Ali Zardari had summoned the Senate and National Assembly sessions after he and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif agreed on it during their weekend meeting on the country’s political and security situation.
NA session
When the NA session began at around 7pm, Speaker Sadiq administered the oath of membership to PML-N’s Malik Munir Iqbal Channar, who won the Bahawalpur polls last month held to fill the seat of his late father Malik Muhammad Iqbal Channar.
Lawmakers then offered prayers for late MNA Chaudhry Mahmood Bashir Virk, who died last month after a prolonged illness.
As MNAs from various parties took their turns to recall the services of Virk, there was slight commotion, which prompted the speaker to urge PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan to respect the late MNA.
Gohar remarked that sessions are usually adjourned after prayers for a deceased member. Referring to the governor’s rule in KP, he said the “funeral of this house was also held on Oct 11”.
“We tried to give you very much in dialogue, but you (PTI) were not ready to take what we had offered,” the speaker replied, then switched off Gohar’s mic.
The speaker said political discussion will not be allowed today, but tomorrow (Wednesday).
PPP’s Syed Naveed Qamar also urged the PTI chairman to acknowledge the services of Virk, who had stood by the Constitution. He said the PTI could raise its issues later as well.
Lawmakers then continued to pay tribute to Virk, with Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal among those who highlighted his professional life.
The proceedings were then adjourned till 11am on Wednesday.
PTI seeks production orders for 9 MNAs
The PTI requested the NA speaker to issue production orders for its nine “detained” MNAs ahead of NA and Senate sessions on Tuesday.
In a letter to NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Chief Whip Amir Dogar claimed that the nine MNAs were “currently detained” and requested him to issue production orders for them to enable them to attend the 30th session starting today.
The lawmakers comprised Haji Imtiaz Ahmad Choudhry (ΝΑ-68), Muhammad Jamal Ahsan Khan (NA-89), Mian Ghous Muhammad (ΝΑ-170), Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel (NΑ-91), Dawar Khan Kundi (NA-43), Junaid Akbar (NA-09), Amjad Ali Khan (NA-02), Fazal Muhammad Khan (ΝΑ-25) and Adil Khan Bazai (NA-262).
“As the speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, the impartiality of your esteemed office requires that production orders be issued for all detained members, irrespective of their political affiliation, to ensure that no constituency remains unrepresented during the proceedings of the House,” the letter read.
It requested Sadiq to issue the production orders under Rule 108 of the 2007 Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly.
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