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| February 27, 2003 | Thursday | Zul Hijjah 25, 1423 |
Jamali says his govt in full command
ISLAMABAD Feb 26: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali assured the National Assembly on Wednesday that his government was in full command and that he was standing on his own feet rather than on “crutches”.
Replying to points raised by Begum Tehmina Daultana, Liaquat Baloch, Makhdoom Amin Fahim and Hafiz Hussain Ahmed during a debate on the Kohat plane crash in the National Assembly, the prime minister criticized the opposition members for “twisting facts with the change of time”.
Earlier, PML-N’s Tehmina Daultana, in a strongly-worded speech, said the house must be made a part of the inquiry into the circumstances in which the Feb 20 crash had taken place.
She criticized the army’s role in the country’s politics and expressed fears about country’s defence.
The prime minister said parliament and the nation would be taken into confidence after completion of the investigation report into the incident.
Referring to the demand made by PPP’s Amin Fahim that the defence minister should have resigned by accepting responsibility for the plane crash, the prime minister said no minister in Pakistan had ever stepped down after any air or rail accident.
The house witnessed interruptions when opposition members tried to speak at the same time, which was not allowed by the acting speaker, Sardar Mohammad Yaqub.
M.P. Bhandara, when allowed to speak after repeated attempts, asked the chair not to show leniency in enforcing rules of procedure or the house would turn into a fish market.
PPP’s Yusuf remained focus of attention for repeatedly rising from his seat to speak on a point of order that was never allowed.
Mr Jamali regretted that no member had raised eyebrows when millions of rupees were wasted on kite-flying and other such activities in Lahore during the Basant celebrations. He said against last year’s Rs6 billion, this year Rs8.5 billion were spent on Basant festivities.
Earlier, speaking on a call attention notice, defence minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal said a high-level inquiry board headed by air vice-marshal Khalid Chaudhry would soon prepare its report.
The call attention notice was moved by MNA from Shangla Amir Muqam, who asked the government to make sure that the inquiry report on the Kohat air crash was made available to the house.
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