FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

The criticism and walkouts have been increasing against the present government, with every passing day parliamentarians scolding it for not delivering. The government is there but not the governance that could have solved the problems of the masses.
The role of the state meant for protecting the life and property of the people is totally missing, with people facing problems similar of the Musharraf era. This was the general impression among the parliamentarians in both Houses, questioning whether there is any government to solve the problems of the masses and let them feel secure. Senator Khurshid Ahmed, of MMA, said that the US had violated Pakistan's border in tribal areas 19 times during last five months, and killed scores of people in each attack.
It was suggested by the Western media that Allied troops in Afghanistan had resorted to air strikes in the past "with the consent of" Pervez Musharraf, and it tried to legitimise attacks of the coalition forces. There have been reports in Western media that collation forces have been flouting Pak border and air space because of a tacit understanding between President Bush and former President Pervez Musharraf, said Khurshid who wanted the government to explain its position about the recent attacks in troubled FATA areas.
He was skeptical, too, about genuineness of February 18 election, which he said was a "democratic drama" acted by the ruling coalition on the stage while behind the scene US, UK, Saudi Arabia and UAE were playing their role. He said all this was the outcome of a deal between Musharraf and ruling party which was also admitted by its late chairperson in her last book.
This government was continuity of Musharraf regime, said Khurshid, asking the government to act sensibly as terrorism could not be eliminated with use of power. He wanted the government to come up with a strategy to improve the socio-economic conditions of the masses in the tribal areas for eliminating terrorism and extremism, main reason for this menace.
Swati of JUI alleged that Musharraf and Bush were pursuing a policy to change the regional geographical boundaries, advising Pakistan to stop infiltration into the Afghanistan to secure its own borders. Dr Muhammad Said that operation in FATA area was a part of international conspiracy to weaken Pakistan, and alleged that USA, India and Afghanistan were involved in it to destabilise Pakistan.
Muhammad Ibrahim wanted the government to explain about its policy regarding attack at Angoor Adda by allied forces as on the one hand it condemned the attack while on the other its Defence Minister tried to justify it, saying that there might have been some reason for this attack.
The hallmark of the NA session, prorogued after two-day business, was the criticism that the government had invited for its poor performance. PML-Q leader Ameer Muqam said he wondered how serious the government was in running the affairs of the state. How the government words could be trusted on the faces of so many contradictions.
Minister for Water and Power might have been good for Zardari but certainly he was incapable of running a Ministry, decried Muqam, because, he said there was no electricity in two districts of his constituency for last 17 days. He led a walkout from the House with other party members.
This was the second walkout as the earlier was led by PML-N leader Isharf Ashraf against burying live women in Balochistan. She wanted the government to take actions against Senator Sanaullah Zehri for making statement that women had been dealt according to Baloch custom.
The National Assembly was informed that the government was providing subsidy on petroleum products by not passing the full impact of international price increase to the consumers. Steps were also being taken to control prices of petroleum products, but the government had no control on the international market prices and the domestic prices were directly linked with them. He said that 36 oil and gas discoveries were made during last three years.
Some members also censured government policy of forwarding the watches by an hour, saying that confusion had made the whole nation psychologically sick. Initially, they said, it was decided that the watches would be reverted an hour after August, but now the Cabinet has decided to further extend it till October. They wanted the watches to be switched back to old hours immediately as the practice was limited only to the urban areas.