ISLAMABAD: A divided opposition stood united on an odd walkout but could manage only a mild attack on the government over Karachi violence and some alleged wrongdoings at the start of a special session of the National Assembly on Thursday.

And the PPP-led coalition government, which seemed little worried, went out of its way to save the day for the opposition by agreeing to discard its own agenda so the house, during the two-day session, could discuss only the points raised by the Pakistan Muslim League-N and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in their identical requisitions for convening the two houses of parliament.

All opposition parties walked out on a call from PML-N’s acting parliamentary leader Khwaja Mohammad Asif to protest against the government agenda for the day, saying the house must take up only the opposition agenda -- the recent Karachi violence and opposition allegations of disregard of Supreme Court orders and rigging in last month’s Legislative Assembly elections in Azad Kashmir which were won by the state chapter of the Pakistan People’s Party.

PPP chief whip Khurshid Ahmed Shah pointed out that the official agenda for the day had come only as a matter of routine, as had happened in the past, and that the government would not object to scrapping it if the opposition moved a motion for that.

A continued walkout would have scuttled a session convened by the opposition itself. But this was averted when Mr Shah persuaded the opposition to come back to the house before relevant rules were suspended to allow an immediate debate, which, on its first day, lacked vigour and much sting apparently due to divisions among opposition parties over other issues such as MQM making peace with the PPP in Sindh and PML-N disputing a JUI-F senator taking the opposition leader’s slot in the upper house.

Through motions adopted by the house, all questions and other motions that were due to be taken up during the two days of the session were put off to the next regular session expected in the beginning of August.

Khwaja Asif opened the debate in the absence of opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan with a speech that was more about the usual opposition allegations of corruption against the government than about the Karachi violence, the allegedly disregarded Supreme Court orders and the Azad Kashmir elections, which he described as only a “trailer” of what could happen in the next general elections in Pakistan.

In an apparent anguish over his party’s loss of first elections it contested in Azad Kashmir, he went on to allege that “puppet governments have been installed there for the past 60 years” -- something that Pakistan has been saying about Indian-held Kashmir.

Accusing the government of failing to provide security to Karachi, he wondered about the party affiliations of masked gunmen who shot people on the streets of Karachi, and while referring to some objectionable remarks made by a senior Sindh minister, Zulfikar Mirza, about Urdu-speaking population of Karachi said he could say it with confidence that the PPP politician had “abused at somebody’s instance and apologised at somebody’s instance”.Indirect references to Dr Mirza’s remarks at the height of tensions between the PPP and MQM earlier this month were also made by MQM deputy parliamentary leader Haider Abbas Rizvi and another party colleague, though both of them said their Karachi-based party would not allow such divisive moves to succeed.

“Some unwise people want the two sons of Sindh to separate for which a conspiracy has been hatched,” Mr Rizvi said and added: “Sindh is our mother and we are prepared to give our lives for our mother.”

But Mr Rizvi’s demand for fresh elections in Azad Kashmir did not seem to carry conviction after he thanked the PPP and Azad Kashmir’s ruling Muslim Conference for withdrawing their candidates for two seats of Kashmiri refugees’ constituencies that were won by the MQM on Wednesday.

Nadeem Afzal Gondal was the only speaker from the PPP who countered the PML-N criticism of the federal government by citing alleged wrongdoings of the opposition party’s provincial government in Punjab. The lion’s share of eight speeches of the day was taken by the PML-N before the house was adjourned till 10.30am on Friday.