In his first speech after being appointed the opposition leader in the National Assembly, Tehreek Tahafuz-i-Ayeen Pakistan (TTAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai on Monday vowed unconditional support for strengthening the lower house of Parliament.
It is worth mentioning that several parts of Achakzai’s nearly 30-minute speech were muted in the NA’s livestream.
At the outset of his address, Achakzai said: “The TTAP makes a promise to the whole country — if you wish to strengthen this house … you will receive our unconditional support.
“Without this house, we are nothing,” he said, adding that the NA should be at the centre of Pakistan’s policies.
“Mistakes happen in the world. Sit, think, sleep on it, as they say in English. What’s happened has happened but having animosity and hurling abuse at each other will not help us,” he said.
Quoting the Holy Quran, Achakzai said that work which focused on welfare and aid must be supported. “Whenever you talk about the public’s welfare, our votes will be with you,” he asserted.
“We want this house to be a reflection of strength … that Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policies emerge from it,” he said.
Achakzai also requested that lawmakers treat each other with respect both inside and outside of parliament and refrain from “saying things you would not say in front of your mothers or sisters”.
In his address, Achakzai also said that he was not someone who “sold his vote”. He asserted that he had not broken the oath he had taken.
In his address, he also talked about PTI founder Imran Khan. He said he was grateful for Imran and the party for nominating him as the NA opposition leader.
He said he was also grateful for NA Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, for appointing him after a delay.
“For five months, this house functioned without an opposition leader, which is very wrong … these people are the true representatives of this house who voted for me,” he said, gesturing to the opposition benches.
“We are ready to go to any extent for strengthening this house,” he said, as the opposition thumped their benches.
Talking about the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments, he said, “I wish they were used for strengthening this house … it is still not too late.”
He asked what the harm was in passing a resolution for withdrawing the cases registered against political workers. “If we pass a resolution for withdrawing the cases against aged women who are jailed, releasing them … if this house says that Imran Khan is the most popular leader … he is in jail and this house unanimously decides that he should be released; the [political] temperature will come down. All this boxing will end,” he said.
“If that cannot happen, then at the very least the bar on meetings with Imran should be lifted,” he said. “We are ready to cooperate with you for any positive development,” he said.
He said that what happened on Feb 8, 2024 had raised the political temperature in Pakistan. “To bring that down, you hold the button. If you lower the pressure, the road for dialogue will open,” he said.
Talking about Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM) chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, who has been nominated as the opposition leader in the Senate, he said, “We will cooperate with you in positive developments but excuse us from negative developments.”