ISLAMABAD: PPP leader Raza Rabbani presented on Thursday an 11-point plan to the PML-N government for steering the nation out of the current complicated situation relating to talks with the Taliban.

He came up with the plan as opposition continued their protest and held a parallel Senate session outside the Parliament House.

The session presided over by PPP Senator Ahmed Hassan continued for more than 90 minutes despite rain.

Senators delivered fiery speeches against the government and adopted two resolutions. The first resolution criticised the government for not paying attention to earthquake-hit areas and people and the issue of missing persons in Balochistan and the second condemned US drone attacks, presence of foreigners in Fata and the undemocratic attitude of people in the government.

The senators accused the government of releasing former military dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf under what they called a deal and on foreign pressure, particularly from the US and Saudi Arabia.

Taking part in the debate on recent drone attacks, Mr Rabbani said that since the government had no plan to move forward, he was presenting his own proposals.

Asking the government to end the “state of flux hurting national security interests”, he said the Taliban must be told to come up with a “formal yes or no on the dialogue”.

He said “judging from the TTP’s statement they are not ready for dialogue, and the government should check through its contact, if any, all possibilities of the dialogue.”

He asked the government to make its position clear on pre-conditions set by the Taliban for talks. The pre-conditions, he said, included release of prisoners and enforcement of Shariah in the country and withdrawal of troops from Fata.

The PPP leader suggested that after the start of the dialogue, a parliamentary committee comprising representatives of all parties in the two houses of parliament be formed “to be kept informed on progress and contents of the talks”. He said the government must ensure that all acts of terrorism should be stopped after the dialogue process was started. He called for getting ratified by parliament and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly any agreement reached with the Taliban.

He asked the government to keep in mind certain clauses of the consensus resolution passed by parliament on Oct 22, 2008.

Mr Rabbani alleged that the government had surrendered to the US and compromised national interests.

He also accused the government of shelving the Iran-Pakistan gas project under US pressure.

Speaking on a point of order, ANP’s Zahid Khan said Gen Musharraf had come out clean in all cases and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to go into hiding. “Where are those who questioned us on the issue of Gen Musharraf’s trial under Article 6 when we were in the government?”

Senators Saifullah Magsi and Naseema Ehsan lashed out at the government “for running the affairs of Balochistan from Islamabad”.

Mr Magsi said the prime minister did not bother to visit the earthquake-hit areas of Balochistan. Ms Ehsan said the people of Balochistan did not recognise the present regime as their representative and considered it “an imposed government”.

All opposition parties, excluding the MQM, have been boycotting the Senate session since Oct 30 when Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan allegedly provided wrong figures in his reply to a question about killings in terrorism-related incidents.

The opposition has announced to continue to hold the session outside the parliament building till the minister withdrew the reply. Chaudhry Nisar has refused to withdraw it.

The opposition will hold the session in the open on Friday also.