Mixed reaction to address

There was a mixed reaction to the President Asif Ali Zardaris second address to the joint sitting of the Parliament here on Saturday. Commenting on the speech, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) said that the address was good as far as the announcements were concerned, but no timeframe was given to implement them.
Pakistan Muslim League-Q, which is the sole opposition party, created rumpus in the house when the speech was started. It opined that the address of the President to the Parliament was like a budget speech and no tangible step was seen to bring about real change in the country, particularly in the living standard of the masses.
Commenting on the speech, PML-N leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said that the overall speech of the President seemed to be positive, which needed an immediate implementation to avoid any further misunderstanding among the democratic parties. Announcement to lift the Governors Rule from Punjab, and undoing of 17th amendment was good news for the democrats and their implementation would help in moving towards reconciliation.
Hashmi added that there had been no confrontation if these announcements were made earlier and the promises made in previous speech were implemented. He pointed out that the President did not announce granting of provinces rights, saying that there should not be further delay in giving autonomy to the federating units.
President of Pakistan Muslim League-Q Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said that the Governors Rule on Punjab should be lifted till Saturday evening and the session of the Punjab Assembly be convened by Monday in a bid to avoid further horse-trading in Punjab. He said that all the announcements be implemented without any delay.
PML-N Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal said that the announcements of the President were good, but would be better if they were made a year ago. He, however, said, there should not be delay in materialising the initiatives and the PML-N would extend its full support to the Pakistan Peoples Party.
Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) parliamentary leader Dr Farooq Sattar appreciated the Presidents speech. However, he said that there was nothing as far as granting of the provincial autonomy was concerned. He further said that all the political parties should focus on addressing the peoples issues, including load shedding, provision of atta, unemployment and other civic amenities.
Another PML-Q leader Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat said that the speech of the President was totally in contrast to the practical actions of the two major political parties. He said that both the parties - PPP and PML-N - were actively engaged in horse trading by using state resources. Firstly, he said, stop coercing the members of PML-Q to change their royalty and then talk about democracy.
PML-N leader Raja Zafarul Haq gave credit to the Prime Minister for all positive political developments during last few days. He said that announcement to lift the Governors Rule and undoing of 17th amendment was result of the meeting between the Prime Minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif in Raiwind last week.
PML-N leader and son of party President Hamza Sharif said that the announcements were positive but there was no solid timeframe to lift the Governors Rule and addressing the other issues. He also pointed out that the PML-N was more interested in revising the decision of February 25 by the Supreme Court and such decision could only bring the PML-Ns Punjab government to its original position.
PML-Q President of NWFP chapter Engineer Amir Moqam said that the Presidents speech disappointed the people of NWFP and Fata as there was nothing new for the people of these areas, who were suffering from economic, social and law and order problems.
He added the people of NWFP and Fata were also disappointed as President Zardari thanked President Obama, who was responsible for drone attacks in tribal areas. Khwaja Saad Rafiq of PML-N said that the speech of the President was a stereotype and the President forgot about the horse trading and politics of Changa Manga as it was the PPP, which started horse trading and making forward blocs in the PML-N for the first time in the political history of the country.