PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution condemning the US government for recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and shifting its embassy there.

The resolution termed the US move anti-Islam and tantamount to hurting sentiments of Muslim Ummah. MPA Fakhar Azam of Pakistan Peoples Party moved the resolution in the House which was unanimously passed. Speaker Asad Qaisar chaired the sitting.

The resolution said the Muslim Ummah had rejected the decision of US President Donald Trump on Jerusalem.

“The shifting of the US embassy to Al-Quds was an attempt to sabotage the international consensus, pitching Muslims against each other and pursuing the policy of divide and rule remained the cornerstone of the US policy from day one,” said the resolution.

Pass resolution asking centre to use diplomatic channels to counter US recognition of holy city as Israeli capital

It added that the Muslim Ummah rejected the move and that Islamabad, too, had denounced it in a very bold manner truly representing the sentiments of Pakistanis.

The lawmakers demanded of the federal government to utilise its diplomatic channels in an effective manner to counter the US recognition of holy city as Israeli capital.

The house passed another resolution demanding the right to vote for overseas Pakistanis in the 2018 general elections.

Deputy speaker Dr Meher Taj Roghani tabled the resolution, which stated that millions of Pakistanis lived abroad for employment and that they were deprived of their birth right due to their absence from the country.

Earlier, the treasury and opposition benches had heated exchanges over the lack of quorum, which led to the sitting’s adjournment twice.

The opposition members staged a walkout when Speaker Asad Qaisar allowed information minister Shah Farman to resume debate on the law and order situation, which was on the agenda on Friday.

When the opposition members were staging a walkout, Fakhar-i-Azam Wazir of the PPP pointed out a lack of quorum. The chair adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes and announced tea break.

When the sitting resumed after break, only 10 treasury members were present in the house.

During the question hour, the opposition slammed the treasury benches when the speaker deferred different questions of the opposition due to absence of the relevant ministers.

Parliamentary leader of the Awami National Party Sardar Hussain Babak asked the government to work seriously during the last five months of its five-year tenure.

He said the PTI-led coalition government had done nothing during its term.

The ANP leader flayed the government for inaugurating work on the schemes initiated by the previous ANP government.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2017