ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly, minus the protesting Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and some allies, on Thursday unanimously rejected the demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and its dissolution, but the prime minister himself would not give out his mind as crowds besieging parliament pressed on for his ouster.

The rejection, in a joint resolution signed by various parties, came as the house still had no inkling of any progress, or failure, of talks between government-mandated mediators and negotiators of the PTI and non-parliamentary Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) over their demands for Mr Sharif’s removal for alleged rigging of last year’s general elections and for fresh polls under reformed electoral laws.

The prime minister had come to the house for the third time in four days and heard some spirited spee­ches from members of his PML-N to denounce days of protests starting with the so-called Azadi march of the PTI and the Inqilab march of the PAT from Lahore and followed by sit-ins on two Islamabad roads and a siege of the Parliament House since early Wednesday. But Mr Sharif, in spite of a lot of media clamour for him to speak — most private television channels predicting he would — preferred silence, possibly to avoid creating any problems for the mediators.

“The house rejects the unconstitutional demands from certain political parties for the resignation of the prime minister and the dissolution of the National Assembly and deplores the extremely derogatory, defamatory and inflammatory language used by leaders and members of these parties in their speeches,” said the resolution moved by the government-allied Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s leader Mehmood Khan Achakzai.

“The house resolves to uphold the supremacy of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the sovereignty of parliament, which embodies the will and the mandate of the people of Pakistan, and the prevalence of the rule of law,” it said, and, in conclusion, added: “It reiterates its resolve to ensure that the democratic system continues to function and flourish in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.”

But despite the strongly-worded resolution, some high-sounding speeches and a standing ovation given to the prime minister from well-attended treasury benches on his arrival, mostly stern faces of ministers betrayed unease in their ranks.

However, the situation in the Parliament House was not as bad as on the previous day when the prime minister and all others who came to the house had to get away from what turned out to be an emergency gate via the Presidency to the west of parliament after Dr Qadri ordered his followers not to let what he called an assembled “shikar” (prey) leave.

While the main entrance to the Parliament House and one for other visitors continued to remain shut for the second day running because of the presence of the protesters there, entry and exit were allowed through an army-manned nearby gate leading to Cabinet Division building in the north, which was blocked by the protesters for a while on Wednesday before a warning by army officers got it cleared.

Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, who was the last interior minister under former military president Pervez Musharraf as the leader of a breakaway faction of the PPP, came out with the strongest defence of the prime minister, denouncing the demands for Mr Sharif’s resignation and a PTI decision to launch a civil disobedience movement and saying there should be a “red line for negotiations”.

Mr Sherpao, who is also one of the mediators, did not sound convincing as he estimated the previous night’s protest crowds outside parliament between 3,000 and 3,500 while other estimates put them at tens of thousands.

He also seemed referring to unspecified hidden hands behind the protesters when he referred to their marches from Lahore and sit-ins in Islamabad side by side before their siege of the Parliament House on Wednesday night, and, borrowing from a Punjabi joke about a Sikh’s unintended act of bravery in saving a drowning child, said: “I ask who gave them ‘dhakka’ (push).”

PML-Z leader Ejazul Haq, another mediator, raised some eyebrows with his question about how anyone could ask for a prime minister to resign right away when even a local councillor’s removal must go through a set procedure, prompting old-timers to recall his father and then army chief, General Ziaul Haq, toppling prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a coup in 1977 and removing his own hand-picked prime minister Mohammad Khan Junejo in 1988.

A young PPP lawmaker from Sindh, Nauman Islam Sheikh, embarrassed the ruling party’s members as they cheered him for condemning Dr Qadri for describing lawmakers as assembled “shikar” on Wednesday when the PAT leader asked his followers not to let them leave the parliament building.

“Today you are clapping for us, but till yesterday you would not even shake our hands,” Mr Sheikh said about the PML-N’s traditional dislike for the PPP apparently turning into liking for the party for its disapproval of the PTI-PAT protest movement, and evoked a laughter in the house saying: “Now you are offering us burgers and pastries.”

The debate will continue on Friday when the house is due to meet at 11am.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2014

Opinion

Editorial

‘Source of terror’
Updated 29 Mar, 2024

‘Source of terror’

It is clear that going after militant groups inside Afghanistan unilaterally presents its own set of difficulties.
Chipping in
29 Mar, 2024

Chipping in

FEDERAL infrastructure development schemes are located in the provinces. Most such projects — for instance,...
Toxic emitters
29 Mar, 2024

Toxic emitters

IT is concerning to note that dozens of industries have been violating environmental laws in and around Islamabad....
Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...