KARACHI, Jan 1: Leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly Nisar Ahmed Khuhro has described the vote of confidence in General Musharraf as 'Black Day'. "It is a joke with the Constitution and democratic dispensation," he remarked.
Speaking at a news conference after staging a walkout during the proceedings of the assembly on Thursday, Mr Khuhro said: "whereas the vote represented weakening of democratic institutions, those who voted for the resolution have become instrumental in validating dictatorship and allowing the military to have constitutional cover for indulging in politics."
Mr Khuhro, seemingly dejected due to the desertion by two of his party colleagues at this juncture, accused the government of patronizing 'lotacracy' by suspending the provisions of the article dealing with penalty for floor-crossing on the occasion of seeking vote of confidence for Gen Musharraf.
According to this special rule, the one who had voted for Gen Musharraf, against his or her party's decision, would not be disqualified. Mr Khuhro said that Bano Saghir and Sohrab Sarki would face wrath of the people, but the government should also be condemned for its unethical methods.
He declared that Dr Sohrab Sarki was being removed as Jacobabad district chief of the PPP and Bano Saghir had also lost her party position as women wing chief (district East, Karachi) for expressing confidence in Gen Musharraf.
Mr Khuhro said that if the government had the required majority, why did not Gen Musharraf seek election through the parliament and had insisted on becoming an elected President through referendum.
The opposition leader pointed out that the government's insincerity was evident from the fact that special rules were framed overnight and notified in a hush-hush manner.
"We don't know when this resolution, which was to be considered, had been submitted," said Mr Khuhro who also mentioned that the session was summoned by the Sindh governor "under Article 109 of the Constitution for further affirmation of the President in Office as required by clause (8) of Article of the Constitution."
He made mention of the Rule 5 of the Statutory notification by virtue of which, while considering the resolution, no speech or points of order were allowed with regard to any other matter, including admissibility or otherwise of the resolution.
Mr Khuhro contended that the 'consideration' implied debate on the resolution. But it was not permitted because resolution and the special rules were all formulated in a haste overnight to strengthen one man's rule.
He said it was an irony that although the session was summoned under Article 109 of the Constitution, the Speaker of the assembly did not preside over the session and the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court was asked to do so. He said that if it was a session of the assembly, then in the presence of an elected Speaker, it should have been chaired by him.
A former chief minister of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, one of those who participated in the formulation and passage of the 1973 Constitution, said that today's exercise represented complete rewriting of the Constitution which, he claimed, had been transformed from parliamentary to presidential form.
He said that people had the right to elect any person as President of the country but the right had been violated as no one was allowed to contest against Gen Musharraf who got himself elected in a 'dubious referendum'.
Replying to a question about those who deserted the party, Nisar Khuhro, the PPP Sindh chief, said they had violated the decisions taken by the party and the ARD leadership, and had thus violated 63A. However, Mr Khuhro apparently seemed helpless in this regard because the government, for this special session, had suspended the articles pertaining to punishment for floor-crossing.
