The opposition senators agreed to end their boycott on Friday on the intervention of a three-member committee formed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resolve the stand-off. The opposition senators, mainly from PPP, had been boycotting the Senate session for over a week and held three consecutive mock sessions on the lawn of the parliament house, seeking an apology from Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan for showing arrogance after submitting what they called wrong statistics on the US drone casualties.
However, a three-member committee constituted by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, comprising Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Information Minister Pervez Rashid and Leader of the House in Senate Raja Zafarul Haq, visited the 'mock session' and successfully persuaded the opposition members to end their boycott.
The enraged opposition put forward three conditions to end their boycott, which include reviewing of drone casualty figures, additional charge of state minister for interior to state minister for education and technical trainings Baligur Rehman and presence of Chaudhry Nisar while settling a privilege motion moved against him in Senate by the opposition.
Meanwhile, the Senate which resumed its proceedings with Syed Nayyar Hussain Bokhari in the chair was first suspended for thirty minutes after Saeed Ghani of PPP pointed out lack of quorum. There were only twenty senators in the house against the required number of twenty-six. After 30 minutes break when the chairman resumed the proceedings, only nineteen senators were present, leaving the chair with no option but to prorogue the house sine die.
Opposition Leader in Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ashan said that they were grateful to the Prime Minister for taking notice of the opposition's protest. He said that after assurance from the government to address their concerns, they had decided to end the five-day long protest.
In the mock session, PPP's Farhatullah Babar tabled a resolution, endorsing the resolution passed by the National Assembly to reject the local bodies' elections schedule given to three provinces by the Supreme Court. The resolution stated that LB polls were crucial for upholding democracy and it should not be held in haste. It further said that any other institution should avoid interfering in the affairs of the parliament.
PPP senator Maula Bux Chandio said that the opposition had never placed an undemocratic demand from the day one, but it was the ego of the interior minister, which prolonged the protest. "Our protest was against the arrogance and attitude of the interior minister," he added.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar while responding to a question said that the government would ensure funds for the local government elections. However, he said that ballot papers would not be printed by the government to avoid any question about transparency in the printing process.
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