24 April 2004	Saturday	03 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, April 23: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has claimed that the amendment introduced by the party to the National Security Council (NSC) bill would make parliament more strong and a sovereign institution.

In a rejoinder to the speech of People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP) Senator Raza Rabbani, which he delivered at the Islamabad Bar Association function, criticizing the MQM for introducing an "undemocratic" amendment to the NSC bill, MNA Kunwar Khalid Yunus said the criticism of the PPP senator was based on his "hypothetical view" and did not hold any legal or constitutional ground.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, the MNA said the MQM had introduced the amendment after lengthy consultations. Moreover, Mr Younus said, the MQM remained absent from the National Assembly for about a month only to press the government for its demand to accept the amendment. On the other hand, he said, the protest lodged by the PPP and the PML-N first on the Legal Framework Order and then on the NSC bill was very weak.

He claimed that after the MQM's amendment, the NSC was bound to send its recommendations to the Senate or the National Assembly for "appropriate action", which meant that final authority was with the parliament. He said this amendment had actually made the NSC subservient to parliament.

Mr Younus said never before in Pakistan's history, have the matters of national security been brought before parliament. "Even in the three past governments of the PPP, the issues of national security concerns were never brought before parliament for discussion," he claimed. "Now, the government is bound to bring each and every issue to parliament", he added.

In response to Mr Rabbani's point of view that now the NSC would even discuss the issues of water shortage and law and order situation in the name of crisis management, Mr Younus said he was not expecting such a comment from a seasoned parliamentarian like Mr Rabbani.

He asked Mr Rabbani to consult Black's Law dictionary in which the definition of the word "crisis" was given. According to the definition, he said, "crisis" meant "a tense moment", "a turning point" and "unstable or critical time."