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| September 20, 2005 | Tuesday | Sha'aban 15, 1426 |
Opposition to requisition Senate session: Contacts with Israel, rape incidents
ISLAMABAD, Sept 19: Parliamentary leader of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) in the Senate Ishaq Dar on Monday said the opposition was considering a proposal to requisition a special session of the Upper House to discuss the issues of Pakistan-Israel relationship and increasing incidents of rape in the country.
Speaking at a news conference after boycotting the Senate session with other opposition leaders, Mr Dar criticized Gen Pervez Musharraf for passing “insulting remarks” to the women of Pakistan in an interview to a US newspaper.
Mr Dar, who is also the parliamentary leader of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) in the Senate, also expressed his concern over the reports that efforts were being made to enforce presidential system in Pakistan.
He said earlier efforts to impose the presidential form of government in the country had failed. He also criticized Gen Musharraf’s recent remarks against PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto and challenged him to announce general elections if he wanted to check their popularity.
Earlier, Opposition leader Raza Rabbani said the combined opposition had again boycotted the Senate session, as it considered the ongoing proceedings illegal and unconstitutional.
He said the opposition had also decided to publish a white paper giving details of the bills, motions and other agenda moved by the opposition in the past over two years in the Senate.
Mr Rabbani said the Senate’s session was “doubly illegal” as it was being presided over by Dr Khalid Ranjha and there was also no quorum in the house. He also criticized the statement of Gen Musharraf in which he stated that Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto had no political role to play and that they could not return to the country.
He said an un-elected man had no right to comment on the political role of the popular leadership of the country.
Prof Khurshid Ahmed of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) said that Gen Musharraf was responsible for earning a bad name for the country. He said the country’s image had been tarnished in the international community in the past six years due to unconstitutional acts of Gen Musharraf. He said there was a sham democracy in the country. He also criticized Gen Musharraf for insulting the Pakistani women in an interview to a US newspaper.
He said Gen Musharraf was saying that he had not made any comments against the women of Pakistan, but the reporters who had interviewed Gen Musharraf had claimed that they had recorded the interview and nothing had been reported out of context.
He also criticized Gen Musharraf for trying to establish ties with Israel without taking parliament or the cabinet into confidence.
Those present in the press conference included PPP senators Farhatullah Babar, Enver Baig, Dr Safdar Abbasi, Rukhsana Zuberi, Dr Abdullah Riar and Akbar Khawaja and MMA’s Prof Ghafoor Ahmed and Rehmatullah Kakar.
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