‘Parliament should have been taken into confidence on Mushrraf issue’

ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly, Khursheed Shah Monday said that the government should have taken the Parliament into confidence before allowing Pervez Musharraf to go abroad for medical treatment.

Speaking at the joint session of the Parliament, he said if the issue of allowing Musharraf to travel abroad was brought before the Parliament it would have raised stature of the Parliament.

He said the Parliament and democratic forces had always played a greater role in strengthening the democracy and democratic institutions and never bowed to any pressure, adding ‘the government should give due weightage to this august house and take it into confidence on all major issues.’

He said it was not the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) but the present government that had decided to try Musharraf under Article 6, as he (Musharraf) had toppled a democratic government in 1999 and arrested an elected prime minister, adding that instead of trying him for a treason case he was allowed to travel abroad.