Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader and Leader of the Opposition in Senate Mian Raza Rabbani on Wednesday criticised the government for the recently promulgated Defence of Pakistan Ordinance 2013, terming it a 'fatal attack' on fundamental rights of citizens.
Talking to reporters at the Parliament House, he said that it was in deliberate negation of the parliamentary system to promulgate an ordinance despite the fact that Parliament is already functioning. He questioned the promulgation of the ordinance, saying that the government should have brought it to the parliament instead of issuing a presidential ordinance. He further said that legislations should be done through the Parliament, which is the appropriate platform.
Talking about the Amnesty International recent report on US drone strikes, Rabbani said that the international community got a bit late in realising that drone strikes had been violating the international laws since long. He, however, welcomed Amnesty International's report, saying though the response of international community over the drone strikes is late, it is a welcome step. He said that the report was also a vindication of the PPP's stance over the drone attacks which had always been saying, during its government, that the drone strikes were violation of our sovereignty and integrity.
"The Amnesty International's report has actually endorsed PPP's viewpoint on drone strikes and proved that facts cannot be overlooked," he added. He further said that former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf (Retd), in an interview, had admitted to have given the US permission of drone strikes and the government should hold investigations into this aspect as well. Referring to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to the US, he said that the Prime Minister should take up the drone issue with US authorities, particularly with President Barack Obama.
The Leader of the Opposition in Senate also criticised the PML-N government for undue delay in formation of the standing committees of the National Assembly, saying that the committees have been elected but they are still headless. He also urged the government to immediately convene meetings of standing committees for election of their concerned chairpersons.
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