Shaukat survives no-trust

The opposition on Tuesday failed in the National Assembly to oust Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, as only 136 votes could be polled in favour of its no-confidence motion whereas it required 172 votes for the move to succeed.
Opposition leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman made it clear after speaker Amir Hussain announced the result of the vote through division that on the time of filing the motion, the opposition was mindful of its result, but the aim was to make the government realise its failures and shortcomings.
"Since the Prime Minister has not responded to the 500-page charge-sheet of corruption, it clearly means he has conceded to our charges," the opposition leader maintained, reiterating the joint opposition's commitment to restoration of true democracy and revival of 1973 Constitution.
Earlier, dozens of opposition speakers delivered fiery speeches, focussing on the Pakistan Steel Mills' sell-off, flagrant violation of the Constitution, rampant corruption, poor law and order and killing of the noted nationalist leader, Akbar Khan Bugti. They held President General Pervez Musharraf squarely responsible for all the ills that had gripped the country, casting a dark shadow on its future.
Almost all opposition speakers, in their hard-hitting speeches, condemned the 'murder' of Bugti and feared it could have a fall out on the future of the federation. They also targeted the Premier's seven-year economic policies, which increased the number of the poor, jobless, price spiral and lawlessness.
They demanded of the Prime Minister to step down after his failure to abide by the Constitution, safeguarding the country's interests, triggering rift between the centre and provinces, and the military operation in Balochistan and Waziristan.
Some lawmakers charged Premier Shaukat Aziz was doing undue favour to stock broker Arif Habib and many key institutions had been 'gifted' to him as a token of friendship. The proceedings of the special sitting started one-and-a-half hour late.
Elaborate security measures were made and all entry road links to the parliament house were banned for the public transport and private vehicles were allowed in after through checking. Incarcerated Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) Javed Hashmi could not make his way to the house because the speaker did not issue his production order, though the opposition pressed him before the debate on the motion.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman was the first speaker, who alleged Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's policies to pull the national economy out of morass has met a miserable failure, though he realised President General Musharraf's agenda.
He contended first priority of a Prime Minister was to maintain peace, act upon the Constitution and promote democratic norms. But these proved to be hollow slogans and the GHQ was the centre of all powers. Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) vice-chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim charged one person was calling the shots.
He was of the view the four military dictators from 1958 to onwards had played havoc with the parliamentary democracy and the Constitution. PML-N senior leader Nisar Ali Khan contended it was not the number game that counts but hard facts, which were that Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had not been able to deliver on any front.
"How can we blame the Prime Minister, as a matter of fact when all decisions are taken by the GHQ without the parliament or the cabinet's nod," he charged. He challenged the government to go for secret balloting to decide the no-trust motion, saying this method was on in India, England and many other countries.
PPPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan said though Shaukat Aziz was made the economic minister and then Prime Minister as well, but poverty continued to rise and one could see small boys collecting edibles from heaps of garbage.
"Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz is not bothered about the sorry state of affairs, as he will go back from where he had come while politicians would be left to face the pangs of life," he lamented. Aitzaz pointed out land mafia, sugar, cement crisis, privatisation scams had rocked the country.
MMA president Qazi Hussain Ahmed deplored the killing of Bugti, saying it would have ramifications and the only remedy to it was the restoration of democracy under a neutral setup. He alleged General Musharraf was defacing the ideological fibre of the society by introducing dance, liquor and merry-making in the military.
Qazi said the Prime Minister was being named in many corruption scandals and the latest in this series was the most controversial privatisation of the PSM. He believed days of General Musharraf and the incumbent government were numbered.
PPPP's Sherry Rehman called the Prime Minister poodle, surrogate proxy premier, adding instead of doing any good to the economy, he had forced people to kill their children and commit suicide due to financial crunch.
"Instead of real economic development, billions of rupees are being spent on the import of latest model Mercedes cars," she said, referring to the State Bank of Pakistan's report about the fiscal deficit and current account deficit with inflationary pressure. She said according to the SBP report, Rs 22 billion loans had been written off to please the Prime Minister's cronies.
In Bugti's death, she saw the shadow of 1971 was again hovering around. Criticising the democratic system, Imran Khan said the parliament was merely a 'rubberstamp' that has been constantly ignored on all major issues.
He said the government neither took the parliament into confidence while launching military operation in Balochistan nor it was informed about the Waziristan 'skirmish'.
Khan charged the government was building General Headquarters in the capital at a cost of around Rs 400-500 billion without debating it in the National Assembly. The Transparency International, he continued, has reported that corruption in Pakistan has increased more than 67 percent during last four years.
Imran said the professionalism of Pakistan army has gone down and it was the prime responsibility of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to save the institution by keeping it out of politics. He lamented that after Burma, Pakistan was the only country, which is being governed by a serving military general. Khan demanded of the Prime Minister to order an independent inquiry into the military operation in Waziristan.
Mahmood Khan Achakzai of Pukhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party said military dictators have always abrogated the constitution of Pakistan. He said time has come for the Pak army to return to barracks. He was of the belief the government would have to ensure equal rights to citizen of four provinces if it wanted to save the federation.
Speaking about the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Achakzai said politicians including Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Mushahid Hussain, Farooq Leghari and coalition partner Muttahida Qaumi Movement have deplored the killing of Baloch tribal chieftain. He even went on saying that some treasury members were behind the plot to kill Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz in a suicide attack in Fateh Jhang.
He urged Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) not to accept turncoats any more and these 'evergreen politicians' must be discouraged. He said judges, who have taken oath under the PCO, should also be dismissed from their services to make judiciary an independent and sovereign institution.
MNA from Balochistan Abdul Rauf Mengal held President Pervez Musharraf responsible for the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti and urged the European Union and International Court of Justice to register a case against him.
In his fiery speech, Khwaja Muhammad Asif of PML-N also took President General Pervez Musharraf to task and said he was a great threat to the federation. He said the government has killed Nawab Akbar Bugti, who was a patriot and his killing has sparked violent protests in nook and corner of Balochistan.
Other MNAs including Liaquat Baloch, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Shah Mehmud Qureshi, Naheed Khan, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Maulana Ghafoor Haideri and others also criticised Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and demanded his resignation.