ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan People’s Party on Tuesday could not muster support in the national assembly to get parliamentary approval to launch military operation in North Waziristan as opposition benches foiled a bid by expressing certain reservations on it.
The treasury and opposition benches kept debating about launching military operation in North Waziristan and despite numerical superiority the PPP withdrew its proposal when it failed to form consensus on it.
Meanwhile, the House passed “The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan Bill‚ 2012” and “The Abolition of Discretionary Quotas in Housing Schemes Bill‚ 2011”.
Federal Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan moved the bill for the establishment of Drug Regulatory Authority.
Addressing the House‚ she said that only a professional and competent person would be eligible for the post of head of the authority. She said there is no intention to appoint any dual nationality holder as its head.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MNA Zahid Hamid moved the second bill “The Abolition of Discretionary Quotas in Housing Schemes Bill 2011”, which was unanimously passed by the House.
The National Assembly also adopted a resolution, moved by Noor Alam, seeking the federal government support to press the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to reinstate 1,600 teachers of Dera Ismail Khan.
The house witnessed a shrewd debate between the PML-N and the PPP legislators that was started with the remarks of PPP minister Khurshid Shah when he blamed the PML-N for joining hands with separatist parties in Sindh.
PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal said that his party was gaining popularity in Sindh and they were against the division of the province. He added that when the PML-N would come into power it would eradicate corruption, gun and extortion from Sindh politics.
Opposition leader Chaudhary Nisar Ali said old trends in politics should be shunned and joint efforts should be made to bring nationalists into mainstream politics.
“Calling opposition separatists has been a common practice in Pakistan and ANP, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, MQM and others parties and leader were called state enemies in the past,” he said.
Displeased by the government’s effort to ensure implementation on resolutions, Nisar raised questions about the status of previous resolutions which had been passed in the House.
Nisar said that PPP’s minister had clearly declared Molvi Fazallullah’s involvement behind the attack on Malala. “Molvi Fazallulah is in Afghanistan and you want operation in North Waziristan, which doesn’t make any sense,” he said, adding that the PML-N would back any step in favor of national interest.
He said that there was analogy between the Ranjit Singh government and the PPP government in bad governance.
Talking about resolution recently passed in the House about petroleum product, he said that the lower house had passed a resolution about reviewing the prices on monthly basis but only three days later the government violated it.
Responding to this, PPP chief whip Khursheed Shah said that military operation was not mere a matter of a girl (Malala) but of a mindset.
He said that accountability bill should be introduced in the House and they would try to pass it in the next session.
Khurshid Shah said that the government could not think about the violation of resolutions nor it called anyone enemy of the state.
Shah said that when Akhtar Mengal was in jail, president personally intervened and arranged his released. He said that in next session accountability bill would be presented.