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| 03 April 2004 | Saturday | 12 Safar 1425 |
Govt moves NSC bill amid protest
ISLAMABAD, April 2: Amid opposition protests, the government moved a bill in the National Assembly on Friday to establish the National Security Council as a harsh speech by Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali seemed to heighten a row
over military's role in politics.
All opposition parties walked out after being disallowed by Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain to voice their objections to the NSC bill, provoking Mr Jamali to lambaste them for what he called 'most unparliamentary' conduct and 'blackmail'.
Immediately after its introduction by the Minister of State for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Mohammad Raza Hayat Hiraj, the bill was referred for scrutiny to a house standing committee. The standing committee later approved the bill for a possible debate when the house meets on Monday afternoon.
The bill envisages a 13-member NSC that will be headed by the president and will include the prime minister, Senate chairman, National Assembly speaker, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, all chief ministers, chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Committee and three services chiefs.
"The council shall serve as a forum for consultation to the president and the government on matters of national security, including the sovereignty, integrity, defence, security of the state and crisis management," the draft bill said about the functions of the body.
Opposition parties say the NSC will further undermine the parliamentary system of government as vital prime ministerial powers have already been assumed by President Pervez Musharraf by constitutional amendments made through the Legal Framework Order. But the government argues the military's presence in the NSC will be a check against interventions such as the four army coups in the past 56 years of the country's existence.
CONCESSION TO ALLIES: In what appeared to be a significant concession to coalition allies of the ruling PML-Q, the draft excludes from the council's purview "matters relating to democracy, governance and inter-provincial harmony" that were originally provided for such consultation in the LFO. But the new draft added the unexplained new subject of 'crisis management' that the council will be entitled to discuss at its meetings, which the president will be empowered to call at his own discretion or on the advice of the prime minister.
President Musharraf had first created an NSC by a decree he issued in 2001 in his chief executive's capacity that he had assumed after seizing power on Oct 12, 1999.
Later, the president provided for the creation of an NSC with a broader membership, including elected functionaries, and made it part of the constitution. But that body could not become functional mainly because of a more than one year of opposition's anti-LFO protest in parliament while the speaker failed to name a leader of opposition in the National Assembly, who would be an NSC member.
However, the provisions about the NSC were deleted from the LFO when the document was approved by parliament in December following a deal between the government and the MMA.
The draft bill, which also provides for a formal repeal of General Musharraf's 2001 NSC-creating order, says the council "shall formulate and make recommendations to the president and the government" in accordance with the clause specifying the subjects for its consultation.
Prime Minister Jamali, who addressed the National Assembly while winding up a marathon debate on the president's Jan 17 speech to a joint session of parliament, was particularly bitter about the MMA for opposing the NSC bill after its last year's deal on the LFO under which the alliance had agreed that the NSC could be created through an act of parliament rather than remaining a constitutional body.
But the MMA says it had only told the ruling coalition that it could have an NSC bill passed by the majority it already enjoyed in parliament but had never promised support for such a move.
"It's only a matter of months...their memory may have failed, but people's memory has not failed," the prime minister said as he appeared accusing the MMA of going back on a perceived understanding not to oppose the NSC bill.
He also attacked the general attitude of opposition parties after what he called their appreciation of steps taken by the president to tackle the situation created by 9/11 attacks.
"This all of a sudden somersault is beyond comprehension," he said. "Their hearts may have changed, but the president's heart has not changed. He has a clean heart and speaks with one tongue".
The prime minister again appeared targeting the MMA when he complimented the president for what he called coming up to people's expectations by holding local bodies' elections and then general elections
"They literally asked for concessions...and they were indirectly granted concessions," Mr Jamali said about MMA's politicians. Otherwise, he pointed out, many of them would "have been sitting not in this house but in the (visitors') galleries".
"Everybody has to think what they are up to," the prime minister said. "You can't go on to blackmail... (the government). We don't accept it."
Mr Jamali said opposition politicians would often tell him that they wanted to see him as a 'strong' prime minister. He said one 'friend' even likened him to a personal staff officer of the president but would not name him because he was not present in the house.
But the premier said he would not mind such a description because Gen Musharraf was an elected president. "There is nothing wrong in this," he added.
Mr Jamali said he was sure the parliament would complete its tenure and survive until the next elections. "This parliamentary system has to continue...it will take root," he added.
He said that with the passage of the NSC bill, it would be 'very difficult' to dissolve parliament in the future. But PPP's Naveed Qamar, while raising objections to the NSC bill at its introduction, said the move would make parliament subservient to a 'small group' and mean the death of the parliamentary system of government.
He acknowledged the government had the needed majority in parliament to have the bill passed, but urged the speaker to "at least hear us out" over an issue that he said already rung alarm bells across the country. But Sher Afgan Niazi of the PPP-Patriots argued that objections against the bill could be raised during a debate for its passage but not at this stage.
All opposition members stormed out of the house when the bill was referred to the standing committee.
The opposition parties seemed to have been caught by surprise to find the introduction of the bill listed on the day's agenda and, according to an opposition source, decided to stage the walkout by mutual consultations.
Besides, Mr Jamali paid tribute to the president for his efforts to start a composite dialogue with India. "We are enemies of nobody and we don't want anybody to be our enemy," he said.
In an opposition-less house, members of the treasury benches unanimously adopted a motion expressing 'deep gratitude' to the president for his Jan 17 address.
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