ISLAMABAD, Jan 29: The government reassured the National Assembly on Thursday it would honour all its commitments without resorting to undue haste after the opposition lashed the PPP-led coalition for promises broken or deferred, particularly those for a restoration of deposed judges and clipping autocratic presidential powers to make parliament supreme.
The two sides had heated wordy duels on the last day of a staggered debate on President Asif Ali Zardari’s maiden address to a joint sitting of parliament before the lower house adopted a government-moved motion expressing its “deep gratitude” to him for making the mandatory speech on Sept 20.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Babar Awan, in his second speech in the debate that began on Nov 13 and was continued piecemeal through several sessions, referred to several moves already made by the 10-month-old government to consolidate what he called “a beautiful system” of democracy such as those for political and press freedoms, civil liberties and reconciliation in Balochistan, but said there was no “Aladin’s lamp” or magic wand to immediately right the wrongs of military dictators while decision-making had to be done through parliament without bypassing the Constitution.
“Only those people are disappointed who are unhappy with doors being closed on martial law and with the restoration of democracy,” he said.
Senator Awan, who first spoke on the presidential address on Nov 13, a day after a stinging debate-opening speech by opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, chose to stand up again for a display of oratory to defend the government after some opposition members came down hard on the PPP leadership for broken promises on judiciary and for an alleged disregard of the famous Charter of Democracy signed by the assassinated PPP leader Benazir Bhutto and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif in 2006 in London when both were in exile.
The minister said it was towards the fulfilment of the same charter that the government had moved to “close the door” for political victimisation with a plan to wind up the present National Accountability Bureau set up by former president Pervez Musharraf.
Earlier in the day, an inter-ministerial meeting held under the chairmanship of Law and Justice Minister Farooq H. Naek approved the draft of a new NAB ordinance which, an official press release said, would be placed before the cabinet in its next meeting.
“The institution of NAB will be a story of the past,” said Mr Awan who, the release said, was present in the meeting at the law ministry, along with Inter-Provincial Minister Raza Rabbani and Labour and Manpower Minister Khurshid Ahmed Shah.
“No draconian law will be made in the future,” Mr Awan said, and referred to plans to provide for a prior approval by a bipartisan parliamentary committee for the accountability of a politician.
He said that no political case had been registered during 10 months of the present government and that there was no political prisoner in the country now.
The minister also told the house that the government had finalised the language of a draft to be presented to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who comes to Pakistan on Feb 4 to pursue Pakistan’s demand for a UN investigation of Ms Bhutto’s assassination in a gun-and-bomb attack on Dec 27, 2007, at Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi soon after she had addressed an election campaign rally there.
He said a UN inquiry had been demanded because of the international stature of the PPP leader and added that “God-willing her murders will not escape like the murders of (Imam) Hussain.”
Earlier, opposition members Raza Hayat Harraj of the PML-Q, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Rana Tanveer Hussain and Tehmina Daultana of PML-N criticised the conduct of the government and President Zardari, particularly for not restoring all the judges sacked by General Musharraf under his controversial Nov 3, 2007, emergency proclamation and not moving for the repeal of the controversial 17th Amendment that legitimised Musharraf’s power grab. Ms Nafeesa Shah and Ms Farzana Raja were among the PPP defenders of the government.
Ms Daultana twice tried to walk out of the house after Speaker Fehmida Mirza disallowed her to speak on a point of order but was persuaded her party members and an appeal from the chair to return to her seat.
The motion of gratitude to the president was passed with a voice vote, with only a few subdued shouts of “no” coming from opposition benches before the house was adjourned until 10am on Friday.