February 01, 2008	Friday	Muharram 22, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: As opposition senators started speaking during a debate on government’s actions of Nov 3, 2007, including the proclamation of emergency, suspension of the Constitution, enforcement of the PCO, sacking of judges and curbs on the media, on Thursday evening pro-government senators left the upper house session.

Under what appeared to be a calculated move, the government had agreed to giving unlimited time to speakers on a reference for assassinated PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto, in order to leave little time for a debate on the opposition agenda.

Senate’s house advisory committee comprising opposition and pro-government senators had earlier agreed to hold a debate on the imposition emergency in the country after the reference.

When Col (retd) Tahir Hussain Mashahadi, who was chairing the session, tried to adjourn the house because of lack of quorum, Leader of the Opposition in Senate Mian Raza Rabbani opposed the move and said that the debate should be initiated so that it could be completed when the house resumed its proceedings on Monday.He moved for suspension of relevant rules to allow discussion on an adjournment motion moved by a number of opposition members on imposition of emergency.

Opening the debate, parliamentary leader of the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party Abdur Rahim Mandokhel said that suspension of the Constitution was a big tragedy for the country. He said it was also a tragedy that the upper house session was being held several months after the imposition of the state of emergency and one month after the assassination of Ms Bhutto.

Mr Mandokhel said that in July 2007 a multi-party conference in London had formed the All Parties Democratic Movement which decided not to participate in the ‘sham elections’ being held in a dubious manner.

He said that President Musharraf had imposed the PCO to protect himself from a Supreme Court verdict against his candidature in uniform, adding that judges had been removed and put under house-arrest.

He said that ministers taking the oath under the PCO had no legal standing and were strangers in this house and Senate staff must take notice of it.

He challenged the appointment of Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro as caretaker prime minister and said it had deprived the Senate of its permanent chairman and the country of its vice-president.

Kamran Murtaza of the MMA condemned the proclamation of emergency and PCO and said that President Musharraf had taken the steps only to protect himself from the humiliation of being kicked out of power through a judicial decree.

He said that when the so-called emergency and PCO were revoked, some controversial articles inserted in the Constitution were given an illegal and unconstitutional protection.