Tuesday proved to be another opposition's day both in the National Assembly and the Senate. After the Independence Day break, the opposition members looked grittier to bank on the opportunity the Supreme Court detailed verdict in Pakistan Steel Mills privatisation case had provided them.
They appeared conscious of the fact that it was the best chance they had to craft an ambiance for no-confidence motion against an 'imported' Prime Minister later this month.
So they were unforgiving in their rally against the Premier for alleged 'commissions and omissions' and, as treasury members say, not 'corruption' in the PSM sell-off deal.
The star of the day was Raza Rabbani. The Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) stalwart has established himself as a well-versed speaker ever since he was elevated as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
He successfully carried forward the momentum of the onslaught his party colleague Aitzaz Ahsan initiated in his speech in the Lower House on Friday.
Right from the start of his around an hour-and-half speech in the Upper House, Rabbani allowed his words run free. His arguments appeared more appealing and his tone exuded in confidence second after second. Rabbani quoted references from the detailed SC verdict, NAB rules and law dictionaries to prove his point that commissions and omissions mentioned in the decision do establish a case of corruption against the Shaukat Aziz.
But his arguments were not good to satisfy Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Ghauri who just got the floor after Raza to defend Shaukat. "Where have SC mentioned corruption?" Babar asked an innocent question.
In the National Assembly, PPPP's Naheed Khan unleashed her fury. She referred to an 'unholy haste' in the all 'convoluted' process by the Privatisation Commission and the CCoP. And then he questioned why President Musharraf didn't use his 'brains' before signing the summary of the deal. In fact, they all are a 'bunch of plunderers' was her own answer.
Amid all these happening, the galleries were abuzz with some rumours and observations. One such observation was that Pakistan's beleaguered power game is once again looked to have ripped for a change. Perhaps, the natural lifespan of the dictatorship that we have in the country since late last century's military coup is nearing an end.
Historically, dictators have not been able to hold their clutch firm on affairs more than a decade or so. People still remember ouster of Ayub Khan who once had all the respect in the book as a 'great reformer'.
This was what that remained the topic of discussion in the press gallery after the news that a former prime minister, two NA ex-speakers and a deputy speaker, two retired Chief Justices of Pakistan, an ex-governor and chief minister have jointly called upon President Pervez Musharraf to step down so that Pakistan survives.
"Severe fault lines have emerged in the underpinnings of our federation during your tenure," they said in an open letter released here, expressing their considered opinion that "(Musharraf government's) policies now pose a serious threat to the integrity, solidarity and well-being of Pakistan."
Those who wrote the letter include Balakh Sher Mazari, Syed Fakhar Imam and Illahi Bux Soomro, Wazir Ahmad Jogezai, Sajjad Ali Shah and Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui, Miangul Aurangzeb and Mir Taj Mohammad Jamali.
The letter by the eight heavyweights comes within a month of a similar communication signed by 18 high-profile citizens of Pakistan to the President urging him to shed uniform and hold fair and free elections, as the opposition's movement against the present governing dispensation gathers momentum.
Those who have been watching turns power game in Pakistan has taken are sure another twist is near.
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