October 18, 2003	Saturday	Sha'aban 21, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 17: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali on Friday regretted that the opposition parties were not playing their due role, and that their decision to boycott parliament’s proceedings was “deplorable”.

“Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali regretted that the opposition, which constitutes an integral part of the democratic system, is not taking part in the proceedings of parliament from the very beginning,” an official statement said.

Talking to Abdus Sattar Laleka, chief whip of the PML parliamentary party in the National Assembly, the prime minister said the attitude of the opposition was “deplorable” who were supposed to represent the people of their constituencies.

Sources said Mr Laleka explained the difficulties he was facing in ensuring quorum in the National Assembly, as the party members were not heeding his pleas for remaining present in the house. The chief whip was accompanied by MNA Nasrullah Khan Dareshak.

In another meeting with senator Gulshan Saeed, senator Kulsoom Parveen and senator Anisa Zeb Tahir Khaili, the prime minister urged the women senators to take active part in the proceedings of the upper house.

The PM said that women, being one half of the country’s population, should play a pro-active role in the socio-economic progress of the country to accelerate the pace of overall development.