PPP Senator Raza Rabbani opened his address with a request to the PM to direct the Punjab government to deal diligently with the situation caused due to heavy rainfall in Punjab, leading to 12 deaths.
Moving towards the current political situation, Rabbani said that he does not agree fully to the notion Parliamentarians expressed yesterday that the Parliament was victorious.
He said that yesterday was a just the first victory of a battle but the war was not over.
“If democratic forces think that it was the first and last attack on the Parliament, they are mistaken.”
“This is a war for power, for control of the state,” he said.
He said that for the first time all the democratic forces, lawyers and media were standing against anyone seeking to walk over the constitution, warning that certain elements will keep on seeking chance to break the unity showcased by the democratic forces.
He said, referring to PM, that if he and his cabinet alienate the Parliament and won’t come to the assembly and senate then such conspiracies will spring up.
“Only a united Parliament can fight off such attacks,” he said.
He said that if the situation had been handled politically from the beginning, the happenings outside would not have reached this point.
He said that the constitution has been safeguarding itself through some clauses that have hindered the attempts made by dark forces to attack the Parliament.
“ The government would have been sent packing had 58(2)(b) been in effect today but since it is not so, these forces have brought their puppets on to the streets,” he said.
He said that the election result was accepted despite rigging for the ‘sake of democracy.’
Addressing PTI, he said that first it wanted the scrutiny of four constituencies but then went on to call for the fall of the system,
“Even when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was murdered judicially, we decide to remain within the system. Our victories were snatched away but we remained in the system. Benazir Bhutto was murdered in Rawalpindi but we said we would stay in the system. We never called for the fall of the system as this is politics,” he said.
Going on with the criticism on the PAT and PTI protests, Rabbani said that what was happening at the Red Zone was not a revolution where the privileged class was raising claims of being underprivileged.
“It’s a situation where the ‘haves’ say they are ‘have nots.’ Where are the labourers, the famers,” he asked.
Hitting out at Tahirul Qadri, the senator said that he had taken an oath in allegiance to the Queen of England and hence cannot even be a Parliamentarian.
“What revolution is he calling out for? The revolution has artists, students and teachers as its forerunners,” he said.
He said that on Wednesday, Qadri turned his cannons towards PPP, in reference to Qadri’s criticism of PPP leader Khursheed Shah whom he alleged looks over the terrorists in Sindh.
He said that his party was used to such attacks but Qadri attacked Bhutto Shaheeh who was the architect of the Constitution of Pakistan.
“They should know PPP’s jiyalas know how to deal with those who attack their leaders,” he said.
He said that the Parliamentarian were ready to lay down their lives to protect the Parliament.
“In this battle we are not ready for the compromise, this war is for the survival of Pakistan.”
“The federation of Pakistan will be under threat if dictatorship is imposed. Its in no way acceptable to us,” he said.
Taking a turn to urge to Parliamentarians for soul-searching, the senator said that had the political class been able to deliver, the situation would have been different.
“ If we had been delivering as we should, each citizen of Pakistan would have actively rejected the attack on Parliament but now they don’t seem concerned,” he said.
Criticising government’s moves to call army troops to the capital and asking the COAS to mediate in the political crisis, Rabbani said that the political authority had been compromised upon by meetings with the army chief at GHQ and invoking article 245 in Islamabad.
“When we impose Article 245, we concede political space; when we ask for facilitation, we concede political space.”
“ Unfortunately, today the balance of power does not rest in Islamabad but in Rawalpindi,” he said.
He praised the government’s move to agree with five points of the protesting parties.
He said that the Parliament would be the guarantor of the commission that will be investigating the elections and would ensure that its findings are follow through and action is taken against those involved in rigging.
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http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2014/09/04/national/parliament-joint-session-political-authority-compromised-by-inviting-army-says-raza-rabbani/
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