Pakistan: PML-N blamed for ‘inappropriate’ handling of ongoing political crisis

The PML-N government on Monday received mild criticism in the joint session of parliament from the opposition benches over the ongoing political situation, when they accused it of handling the situation poorly.

The hostile environment of the previous session was completely missing after government’s key minister Nisar Ali Khan opted to show restrain over what he believed was a personal attack on him by PPP’s Aitzaz Ahsan. However, PPP’s Farhatullah Babar, in a well-articulated way, pointed out the weaknesses of the PML-N government in tackling the political situation that he noted was come to a dangerous pass. The soft-spoken Babar even suggested a civil-military dialogue to resolve the issues and opined that both politicians and establishment have matured after learning from the past.

“This civil-military dialogue should be meaningful and constructive to find out an amicable solution to the situation,” Babar said. He pointed out that the government committed two fundamental mistakes while dealing with the situation triggered by PTI and PAT protests, saying a delayed decision by the government invited the crisis. He also lambasted the conduct of the ministers in the present situation, saying it was time to show decency.

He recalled the role of Nawaz Sharif in the memogate scandal and said he went to the court against then PPP government, which was condemnable. He, however, in the same breath appreciated Nawaz Sharif for inviting “third power” even at that time. Babar suggested that parliament, through a resolution, should demonstrate resolutely that the onslaught of protesting parties was unconstitutional and also demanded that the government should also withdraw Article 245 notification.

MQM’s Senator Babar Ghuari demanded the government brief the House about the hurdles in dialogue with protesting parties and said that if the government had tackled the Model Town tragedy properly, the situation would not have gone from bad to worse. JUI-F’s Fazlur Rahman endorsed the appeal of Altaf Hussain that the protesting parties should end their sit-ins and send their workers to the flood-affected areas.