November 16, 2006	Thursday	Shawwal 23, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: Combined opposition leaders on Wednesday announced that they would boycott the meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges to register their protest against remarks of Parliamentary Affairs Minister Dr Sher Afgan calling the parliament “uncivilised.”

Talking to Dawn, Opposition Leader in the Senate Mian Raza Rabbani regretted the statement of Dr Sher Afgan in which he termed the whole parliament “uncivilised”.

Mr Rabbani said the opposition members had already submitted a privilege motion against the minister and they would press the Senate chairman in the forthcoming session to refer the motion to the committee for an appropriate action.

The opposition members in the National Assembly belonging to the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) have already submitted separate privilege motions against the minister.

Dr Sher Afgan reportedly stated that President Gen Pervez Musharraf would not address the joint sitting of the two houses as the present parliament was uncivilised. Later, Dr Afgan though clarified that he had not termed the whole parliament uncivilised and that he was referring to only some of the members, by then the opposition MNAs had moved the motions in the National Assembly.

Mr Rabbani said as a mark of protest, the opposition members had decided to boycott the meeting of the Senate Functional Committee on Rules of Procedure and Privileges, scheduled to be held on Friday.

The privilege motion against the minister has been signed by 14 senators, namely Raza Rabbani, Babar Awan, Farooq Naek, Dr Safdar Abbasi and Rukhsana Zuberi of the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP); Prof Khurshid Ahmed, Abdul Malik and Dr Ismail Buledi of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA); Asfandyar Wali and Ilyas Bilour of the Awami National Party (ANP); Abdur Rahim Mandokhel of the Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), Shahid Bugti of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) and Saadia Abbasi and Sardar Mahtab Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).