ISLAMABAD: After threats by opposition parties to boycott a planned
government briefing to parliamentary leaders on the implementation of the
National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism, the ruling Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) now
seems ready to convene sessions of the National Assembly and the Senate for the
purpose.
Talking to Dawn, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is
also the vice chairman of the ruling party, said if the opposition parties were
adamant on their demand for a briefing on the issue of NAP on the floor of
parliament, then the government was ready for it.
Mr Qureshi,
who had sent letters to the opposition parties inviting them for
the briefing at a committee room of the Parliament House on March 28, said the
main purpose of the activity was to first brief the party heads and
parliamentary leaders and to listen to their viewpoint so that they could then
brief their respective party members about the “national challenges” being faced
by the country.
He said even after this briefing, if the opposition members believed
that a discussion on the issue inside the parliament was needed, they had no
objection to it.
Responding to a question, he said he had so far not cancelled the
March 28 meeting and would soon contact the opposition parties as he had no
“ego issue”.
The country’s main opposition parties have hinted at boycotting the government briefing on NAP due
to the prevailing tense political atmosphere in the country.
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) has already announced it will not
participate in the March 28 meeting. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)
and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have also expressed their reservations
over the government’s move and suggested to the government to convene an
in-camera joint sitting of the parliament for the briefing on NAP or the
military courts issue.
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly and PML-N president
Shahbaz Sharif last week wrote a letter to Mr Qureshi, urging him to brief the
entire parliament on the matter, instead of convening a meeting of selected
parliamentary leaders.
“The collective opposition believes in inclusive decision-making and
promoting a sense of collective ownership of all decisions taken in the
national interest. It is, therefore, suggested that your proposed briefing be
given to the National Assembly so that the country can benefit from the
collective wisdom of all the parliamentarians instead of selected parliamentary
leaders,” he wrote in the letter to Mr Qureshi while responding to the latter’s
invitation letter to him.
Mr Sharif further stated that the “national consensus achieved through
an exhaustive parliamentary discussion made it possible for the nation to
attain a clear direction in those challenging times”. He said: “Success of NAP
was embedded in Pakistan’s parliamentary traditions and democratic values.”
Military courts’ extension
In his invitation letter, Mr Qureshi had stated that the meeting of
the parliamentary leaders was being convened “to underscore our continued
commitment to speedy implementation of NAP, which is clearly in the long-term
interest of the people of Pakistan”.
Mr Qureshi had written that NAP, which had been developed “in the
aftermath of the tragic attack on Army Public School in Peshawar in December
2014, was a result of a national consensus achieved through consultations with
all the political parties of the country”.
Though, in the invitation letter, there was no mention of the issue of
giving extension to the military courts that was set up under NAP to hold trial
of civilians charged with terrorism and which are completing their two-year
term on March 30, a number of opposition members believe that the main purpose
of this activity being arranged by the government was to seek their consent for
giving second extension to these courts.
Regarding military courts, Mr Qureshi said: “If they have apprehensions on
the issue of military courts, let’s talk. We can abandon discussion on it.” He
recalled that the military courts had been set up during the previous PML-N
regime and that the PTI and other opposition parties at that time had managed
to introduce certain amendments to the laws.
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