29 October 2004	Friday	14 Ramazan 1425

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)

ISLAMABAD, Oct 28: An exchange of harsh words marred Senate proceedings on Thursday before the upper house took up for general debate a government bill seeking to allow President Pervez Musharraf to retain the post of army chief beyond Dec 31.

It all started when Law Minister Wasi Zafar was booed and interrupted by a noisy opposition while he was rebutting a charge that the bill had been bulldozed through the National Assembly. At one stage, PPP Parliamentarians' Safdar Abbasi and the minister appeared heading for a physical confrontation but they were restrained by their colleagues.

Chairman Mohammedmian Soomro suspended the proceedings to give time to angry senators on both sides to cool their temper.

Leader of opposition Mian Raza Rabbani later told newsmen in the lobby that the government was trying to create an ugly situation to bulldoze the bill also in the Senate. Prof Khurshid Ahmed of the MMA accused the law minister of provoking the opposition unnecessarily and demanded his replacement.

When the house reassembled after a 90-minute suspension, opposition members severely criticized the government for getting the bill allowing President Musharraf to hold two offices approved in the National Assembly.

The bill which was tabled in the upper house on Wednesday is likely to be passed on Friday. Leader of the House Wasim Sajjad said that the question-hour for Friday had been waived with the consent of the opposition.

Treasury members supported the bill saying it was in the national interest that the office of the COAS remained with General Musharraf to safeguard the country against internal and external threats.

Prof Sajid Mir of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal said Gen Musharraf's argument that no-one would listen to him in the armed forces if he relinquished the army chief's office exposed the fact that the armed forces had no respect for the civilian authority.

He said the bill gave the impression that a country which was founded by politicians could not exist without military interventions. He accused Gen Musharraf of reneging on an agreement reached with the MMA paving way for the adoption of the 17th Amendment and the public commitment made by him on television that he would not retain the COAS office beyond Dec 31.

While in the past, he said, dictators abrogated or suspended the constitution it was now being distorted by generals through an elected parliament, he added.

Prof. Mir said the bill exposed those who had argued that the National Security Council would put a stop to army's intervention in the country's governance.

He said the argument that the uniform would guarantee a smooth transition to democracy was unique with no parallel anywhere in the world.

PPP Parliamentarians' Dr Akbar Khwaja termed the dual office bill "a shameful piece of legislation, a disgrace to parliament and totally in violation of the constitution".

He said the people of Pakistan supported the rule of constitution through their elected representatives and not the armed forces.

In a hard-hitting speech, Amanullah Kanrani from Balochistan said Gen Musharraf was neither a "legitimately elected president nor a genuinely appointed chief of army staff". "We take him as a retired COAS who was dismissed by an elected chief executive," he said.

He said the deprived people and those subjected to state oppression like in the Waziristan agency and Balochistan were being crushed by the dictatorship.

Rahmatullah Kakar of the MMA said the passage of the bill would create misunderstandings among the provinces. Already the secessionist forces were busy fanning anti-state sentiments in Balochistan, Sindh and tribal areas.

He advised the chairman to return the bill to the National Assembly and if it was 're-referred' send it back again because it was unacceptable to the nation.

Mohammad Akram Wali of the ruling PML said a president-in- uniform was the need of the country which was facing internal and external threats to its solidarity.

Liaqat Ali Bangulzai of the MMA warned that history would never forgive those who would pass this bill. He said a line had been drawn between democratic forces and the elements being patronized by the armed forces.

The perpetuation of military rule, he said, would only establish the culture of might is right.

He ridiculed those who had invented the slogan of 'Pakistan first' while taking a U-turn on Afghanistan where they were espousing democracy while depriving their own country of the system.