ISLAMABAD: Parliament’s ongoing joint session saw a swing on Thursday in support of the Saudi request for Pakistani military help in the Yemen war, on the fourth day of a debate on the crisis.

Some lawmakers of the ruling PML-N and its allies clearly spoke about a perceived threat Saudi Arabia faced from the conflict next door, contrary to a mixed bag seen on the previous three days with opposition parties demanding that the government prefer peace moves and in no case allow Pakistani boots on the ground inside Yemen.

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The strongest advocacy for accepting the Saudi request for Pakistani warplanes, navy ships and ground troops came from the ruling party’s Senator Sajid Mir, a religious scholar also heading the Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadith group, who said “we should not suffer from any hesitation in extending whatever help they need”.

He also justified two weeks of air strikes by warplanes of a Saudi-led coalition, saying that while the United States had been targeting legitimate governments on the pretext of its security, Saudi Arabia was justified to act against a revolt against a legitimate government in Yemen that also endangered the kingdom. .

“They have stood by us in every difficult hour,” the senator said of Saudi Arabia, praising Saudi kings for supporting Pakistan financially, politically and diplomatically, and added: “If today they are facing a difficult time, we should stand by them.”

“They even have a share in making Pakistan a nuclear power,” the senator said in a reference to free oil supplies given by Saudi Arabia to help Pakistan tide over US-led sanctions imposed on the country after its nuclear tests in 1998.

Earlier in the debate, which will continue on Friday morning, MNA Mahmood Khan Achkzai, head of the government-allied Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, impliedly supported the perception of a threat confronting Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, by referring to turmoil afflicting several countries around the kingdom and what he saw as nefarious plans to restructure the world once again.

Citing Pakistan as part of that agenda, he said: “We must take a stand.”

Mr Achakzai called for Pakistan and Turkey to bring together leaders of rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are also the present adversaries in the Yemen.

Another government ally, MNA Ghaux Bakhsh Mahar of the PML-F, spoke for accepting the Saudi request for military contribution to the Saudi-led coalition but said first efforts should be made for a cessation of hostilities.

“We should stand by Saudi Arabia, and we will have to stand by Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Senator Rehman Malik of PPP regretted what he called lack of unity in parliament so far on the Yemeni crisis and the government’s failure to give a comprehensive briefing to the house.

He avoided taking a clear stand on the question of the military contribution demanded by Saudi Arabia and said that Pakistan should act as a peacemaker rather than being partisan.

MNA Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, head of the opposition Awami Muslim League, who faced repeated heckling from PML-N back-benchers for supporting the prolonged sit-in last year outside the parliament by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), seemed supporting the Saudi demand as he, speaking at the start of the day’s proceedings, accused Iran of becoming part of a “new axis” with America and India, which, he said, could be countered by one among Pakistan, Turkey and China.

PML-N MNA Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, chairman of the National Assembly’s standing committee on foreign affairs, also voiced strong support for the Saudi cause.

“We have to support the Saudi state as they supported Pakistan irrespective of the type of government was here,” he said.

Although nothing was officially stated about it, a parliamentary source said the current debate in parliament was likely to conclude on Friday.

A Senate sitting fixed for Friday morning was cancelled and shifted to Monday.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2015

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