What a firm government of minority?

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2011-01-04T01:16:07+05:00 Afzal Bajwa
The so-called opposition despite gaining apparent majority in the National Assembly after the MQM, though not on the same page, has joined it, started hoodwinking the masses by shifting the focus from political imbroglio to the energy crisis. Even the parties poles apart like the PML-N and the MQM now sharing the opposition benches in NA appeared as part of the grand understanding to push real issue of incumbent Government lacking majority on the backburner by bringing oil prices' issue to the fore. Premier Gilani who had dashed to Lahore for meeting Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and PML-Q leader Chaudhry Shujat Hussain did not bothered to grace the NA after these meetings. Officials confirmed that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani was back in the Capital by the time the Lower House was in session in the evening but he did not show off, probably after having supportive assurances from the two major opposition parties. PML-Q MNA Raza Hayat Hiraj, however, made a smart move while speaking on oil price-hike when he said that "a majority in this House rejects this increase let us have voting on this." Coalition partner ANP's Asfandyar Wali timely pre-empted embarrassment for the Government in case there is a vote count as the opposition members were in majority at that time and his own party had submitted adjournment motion against petroleum prices' increase. He floated a suggestion to have a meeting of the parliamentary parties' leaders with the Prime Minister on the prices' issue. The leading opposition party actually bailed the Government out of the entire situation in the National Assembly on Monday when its member Mehtab Abbasi gave the sense to Deputy Speaker National Assembly Faisal Karim Kundi to adjourn the session for the day. That was what the PPP wanted, thus Khursheed Shah, the chief whip rushed to give the same sense from the treasury side and the parliamentarians called it a day. Outside the Parliament PML-N leaders were clueless to answer the questions of friendly opposition. PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal twisted the question of next logical step on part of the PML-N as leading opposition party when the Government had lost majority. In a bid to exonerate PML-N position being hands in gloves with the PPP for the sake of its rule in Punjab, he said 172 were required to get a no-confidence move to succeed while they had far less than that in NA. He deliberately skipped the point that only 68 were required to move such a motion and they had over 90 members. On the PPP side the ministers were with their faces down and not that glowing colours not because of the extra-ordinary fog and cold in the Federal Capital but vagueness of their current political status marred their buoyancy. "There is no morality in politics but there is a Constitution to be followed," replied Nawazada Ghazanfar Gul, Political Advisor to the Prime Minister while answering a question of moral resignation by the Government. Law Minister Babar Awan also played the question of morality to the slip and replied a questioner saying, "you should tell this morality to those who were ruling on the basis of turncoats." He vowed to answer the question of ensuring majority in the Lower House, but he did not as he referred back to the Constitution that does not requires the Prime Minister to take a vote of confidence unless there is a no-confidence move or the President asks him to do so.
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