Opposition asks govt to discuss NAP issue in parliament

ISLAMA BAD: The opposition parties -- Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Mutahidda Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) -- have decided to boycott a briefing to be given by the government on March 28 and stressed that, whatever, is to be talked about should be discussed inside parliament.

“The stand of the PML-N, PPP and MMA is the same -- to not attend the briefing --because we want parliament to be the forum for consultations on key national issues,” former National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq told The News.

However, when contacted, PPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar said they have not received any invite from the government for the conference. “The opposition parties will take a joint decision about it.”

The government is in the process of sending letters to the parliamentary leaders for a briefing on the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism in the Parliament building. The government has invited parliamentary leaders of all the political parties on March 28 in the Committee Room No2, Parliament House, for speedy implementation of NAP.

Ayaz Sadiq said he also talked to the MMA, which was of the view that the opposition parties should stay away from such briefing. The former speaker said that during his just-concluded three-day private visit to Tehran, he met the Iranian speaker, which was his thirteenth session with him over the past few years. He said that on his return, he phoned the foreign minister and foreign secretary to given them briefing about his discussion but lamented that none was willing for that.

He said he gathered that the government has totally failed to have good relations with Iran and added that he wanted to tell the foreign minister and foreign secretary his views based on his meetings in Tehran. A lot of intensive work is needed to make any improvement in ties and get rid of misgivings with Iran, he said.

By briefing on the NAP implementation, the government wants to evolve a consensus on a constitutional amendment to grant another extension to military courts to try civilian terrorists. The amendment first unanimously sailed through parliament in January 2015 in the wake of the terroristic catastrophe that struck the Army Public School, Peshawar, in December 2014. Then, these courts were created for two years. On the expiration of this period, their operations were extended by another two years till January 7, 2019, the cutoff date that passed over two months back.

In the absence of government-opposition dialogue even on crucial issues, there has been no discussion between them to appoint two new members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

Ayaz Sadiq said the government has not approached the leader of the opposition to fill the vacancies of two ECP members. Nominations for these posts, which fell vacant on January 26, were required to be made within forty-five days under Article 215 of the Constitution.

As per Article 213, the prime minister (Imran Khan) will, in consultation with the opposition leader (Shahbaz Sharif), forward three names for appointment of every ECP member to a bipartisan parliamentary committee for hearing and confirmation of any one person. In case of no consensus between them, each will forward separate lists to the committee for consideration and confirmation.