FROM A RINGSIDE SEAT

Pakistan Muslim League (Q) looked to be in total isolation and under massive political pressure in the Senate on Tuesday for budging from its stance on 18th Constitutional Amendment taken in the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms.Sensing the situation and criticism, major leadership of PML-Q did not turn up in the House during the second half of the proceeding and those who were present preferred silence.
All the political parties appeared to be standing firm behind the Constitutional bill they have signed and expressed the resolve to get it passed from the upper House. They wanted the leadership of PML-Q to be part of this landmark achievement rather indulging in petty politics.
As the House began debate on the bill member after member lashed out at Wasim Sajjad and other PML-Q leaders for first signing the bill and now opposing it when it was almost in final stage. There was no support in the House for the PML-Q after the senators of all other parties reminded them of their moral obligation to honour the commitment made in the Committee by signing the bill. The senators of other parties were not ready to even consider the possibility of revisiting the bill because of fear that this might open a Pandora box that would be extremely difficult to close and the rare opportunity of fixing the Constitution might slip away. The hints of this fear were available in the speeches of the leaders of Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Awami National Party who could see state and non state actors are out to sabotage the entire process. Taking part in the debate Senator Ishaq Dar came hard on Opposition leader Wasim Sajjad for now opposing the Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw as new name of NWFP after signing the document on March 31. "if name of NWFP was not acceptable to the PML-Q why their members in the committee have signed the Constitutional bill on March 31" he vehemently asserted and reminded him that this uphill task of purging the dictatorial changes from the Constitution was completed after nine months enormous labour.
He also referred to some state and non state actors who do not wanted to see this landmark achievement become reality, which would not only strengthen the democracy and parliament but would also empower the provinces. Was not Dar indirectly accusing PML-Q for being involved covertly in the protests in Abbottabad when he said that few people have ignited this fire for political gains? Of course his attack was on the PML-Q, as everyone looked convinced, was exploiting the situation to damage the vote bank of PML-N. Dar's speech was also a vindication for ANP and other parties, revealing that prefix of Khyber was added to Pakhtoonkhaw on the demand of PML-N and PML-Q and now there was no justification to oppose it. So the PML-Q should not make it an issue now, said Dar requesting that all the political parties should own the decision of the Committee. After he was finished member after member supported his view point while Haji Adeel of ANP wondered as to how the masses would trust the Parliamentarians and their agreements if people like Waseem Sajjad and S M Zafar would not honour their signatures.
ANP leader warned that this unrest would spread across the country and no one would be able to control it if the people of NWFP were denied the name of Pakhtoonkhaw. Like Ishaq Dar he was also seeing some forces behind the situation in Abbottabad. Professor Khurshid Ahmed Senators of Jamaat-i-Islami also supported renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtoonkhaw and said no one should have objection to the name and so was Senator Babar Ghauri of MQM who wanted all the political parties to honour the commitment they made in the committee. One could hope after watching the first day debate on the bill in the upper house that it would go through smoothly.