June 19, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 18, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, June 18: The Parliamentary party leader of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP) in Senate, Mian Raza Rabbani, has said the resolution presented in the Upper House of the Parliament assuring support to Gen Musharraf was in violation of all rules.

Speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, Mr Rabbani said the resolution was moved in the absence of opposition members and at a time when the House was about to be prorogued.

Flanked by senators Farhatullah Babar, Enver Baig and Khwaja Akbar, he said there was no mention of the resolution in the “order of the day” issued before the session on Tuesday.

The PPP senator said under Senate Rule 120 if a private member or the government wanted to bring a resolution in the House, a seven-day notice was necessary.

He said if the resolution was so important and urgent then an application for suspension of all rules should have been moved before presenting it. The Senate record shows that no such application was moved, he added.

The PPP leader said the senators were told that the session would continue till June 27, but it was prorogued all of a sudden as the government was afraid of facing the opposition. The prorogation of both the houses showed that the government had no legislative agenda, he added.

On rejection of Senate recommendations regarding the federal budget by the National Assembly, Mr Rabbani said the Speaker had violated even the Legal Framework Order (LFO), which according to him was part of the Constitution, by not allowing debate on the recommendations.

On the statement of Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali that the LFO issue was over, the PPP leader said the premier was not aware of the powers of the Speaker. The ruling on the LFO by the Speaker was illegal and would be a black mark in the country’s parliamentary history, he added.

Mr Rabbani also criticized the government for interfering in provincial affairs. With what capacity and under which laws the NRB chief was holding talks with Nazims and Naib Nazims in the NWFP, he questioned.

He said the PPP was not against the devolution of power, but the devolution plan introduced by the Musharraf regime was actually a plan to run a parallel system to assemblies and to control Nazims and councillors directly from the presidency.

He also termed serving of contempt of court notices and disqualification notices on members of combined opposition as part of political victimization.

The PPP leader vowed to bring a no-confidence motion against the NA Speaker soon.

He said the nation had witnessed that the attempt to run the country under the LFO was hampering democratic process. He said the combined opposition would give a call for street agitation at a proper time and all opposition parties had started mass mobilization which was a must for launching a political movement.