ISLAMABAD - The united Opposition is divided in coming up with some unified stand in the Parliamentary Committee on National Security informal sessions to redraft the recommendations for the overall foreign policy review with specific reference to the NATO supplies restoration via Pakistan.
The first to split away was JUI-F President Maulana Fazlur Rehman, who on his own, came up with his party’s decision after the Saturday meeting of the committee that they would not support restoration of the NATO supplies via Pakistan at any cost and made it loud and clear that any resolution proposing reopening of NATO supply route would be opposed by his party Parliamentarians in the joint sitting of the Parliament.
The only point on which all the Opposition parties had agreed at a meeting was that they would press government to re-draft the recommendations worked out by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) to provide base for overall foreign policy revisit.
But as soon as these parties sit across the table to re-draft the recommendations they did not even converge on same page what to speak of giving any guidelines to the government in the process.
Sources in the Parliament informed that JUI-F President Maulana Fazlur Rehman was taking the hard-line against the restoration of the NATO supplies only to appease his electorate in Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa who were facing the brunt of unabated drone attacks by the US.
Fazl has tactfully rolled the ball in government’s court to decide on restoration of the NATO supplies so that his party could do politick on the issue in both Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa and Balochistan to win the public support with the aim to transform it into his party’s victory in the next general elections.
PML-N the main Opposition party, which was earlier in favour of conditional restoration of the NATO supply routes on revised terms and condition, was now pushed in a quite awkward situation by the JUI-F by taking an extreme stand on the issue.
Now PML-N would be left with little choice but to come up with equally extreme stand on the restoration of NATO supplies to keep their support in Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa intact.
It was the unilateral and stiff decision of Maulana Fazlur Rehman on NATO supply issues which had forced the PML-N leadership to announce boycott of the PCNS meeting on Monday to record their concern on massive increase in the prices of petroleum products and CNG.
Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao PPP (Sherpao) President said that it was no-win situation and it would be difficult for any political party in the given circumstances to reopen the NATO supplies routes even on tougher conditions.
Sherpao holding government responsible for the situation in which the country was holed up said that it was an administrative matter and it should be dealt with at the administrative level by the rulers.
The way government had blocked the NATO supply routes soon after Salala check-post ambush without consulting the Opposition it should restore the same on its own, he commented and quickly ,added, that the government was also not in a mood to take unpopular decisions on its own and had tossed the issue to the Parliament which according to him is not the right step.