ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), including the opposition parliamentary group leaders in two houses of Parliament, have decided to boycott today’s (Wednesday) closed-door briefing on national security, convened by Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser due to his alleged undesirable demeanor towards the opposition. He has announced to call off the briefing a day before the schedule and accordingly the relevant authorities cancelled it.
The speaker was supposed to chair the proceedings and the top military leadership had to brief the parliamentary group leaders of the Senate and National Assembly in the Committee Room No2 of the Parliament House and it was indicated that the briefing would cater to vital national security subjects.
Well-placed political sources told The News here on Tuesday that president of the PDM Maulana Fazlur Rehman had discussed the question of attending the briefing with all component parties heads, including Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari. It was unanimously decided that as long the incumbent speaker has central stage in such an arrangement, group leaders wouldn’t opt to turn up for the exercise. The sources said thatPakistan Muslim League (PML-N) leadership, including its Quaid Nawaz Sharif, had additional reservations in attending the briefing. The National Assembly Secretariat has notified that the briefing has been postponed and it didn’t give any reason for the development. The sources maintained the briefing has been cancelled not postponed as no fresh schedule has been given. It is the second occasion in less than three months that the opposition’s boycott has forced the speaker to call off the meeting of parliamentary group meeting. The opposition has serious reservations about the conduct of the speaker National Assembly who had throughout been allegedly supporting the ruling party in his actions. It was Speaker Asad Qaisar’s convened meeting for legislation where a Senator of the opposition Farooq Hameed Naik put up proposals to amend the NAB laws on the government request but the ruling party, while breaching the norms of closed door meeting, cleverly termed it as “document for NRO.” The speaker allegedly helped the government party in its motive by staying quiet and facilitated the government to prove its contention. Farooq Naek had earlier served as chairman of Senate and federal law minister.
The sources pointed out that Speaker Asad Qaisar annoyed the opposition seriously when he declined to give heed to its demand during the joint sitting of the parliament for head counts afresh provided in the rules when the house was busy in FATF specific legislation. The ruling of speaker, it was claimed, turned the defeat of the government into a victory, the sources said.
The opposition group leaders in the National Assembly since then don’t attend any meeting called by Speaker Asad Qaisar. A formal invitation for the high-level Wednesday moot was extended to some federal ministers besides the opposition group leaders. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan and Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan, Attorney General Khalid Javaid Khan, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Governor Raja Jalal Hussain and interim Chief Minister Mir Afzal were also among those who had received the invitation. The National Assembly Secretariat sources have hinted at next week’s polls in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) as one of the main reasons for the change of meeting schedule. Interestingly, the elections for legislative assembly of the GB were expected to figure among the top subjects in the briefing.
