Working overtime the National Assembly on Monday passed the bill that allows the political leaders to hold concurrently the party and government offices.
The opposition to the bill from the Opposition benches was only for the sake of opposing anything that the government purposes, otherwise it too was for it. Both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif kept the two civilian hats when they were in power, and it would be naive to think that their party-men in the house would foreclose on them the future prospects of that opportunity. Anyway, there was a spirited debate, albeit phony, with the Opposition asserting that the government would use it to help it press the state machinery into serving the election campaign of Shaukat Aziz.
Since the interim Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain is also the head of PML --an opportunity refused to his predecessor Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali--the enactment of the amendment to the PPO would seem to be to strengthen the legitimacy of his position. Possibly, he thought it politically wise that he could campaign for Mr Aziz with clear conscience. But, probably he would like to scuttle the likelihood of his successor thinking that his cousin, Chaudhry Pervaiz Illahi, should keep either the party's provincial president-ship or the chief ministership.
Some of the members held the view that the new law would help President Musharraf transit from his military position to civilian on or before December 31, 2004 when he is constitutionally mandated to doff his uniform. What could be another reason behind the feverish enactment is open to conjecturing.
The Senate is also in session and the bill as passed in the National Assembly would come to it.
The bill was passed by voice vote. Then the house quite peacefully disposed off a calling attention notice on the precarious situation surrounding the Solangi couple, who is on the run for life from the threats of perpetrators of 'Karo Kari'. But before calling it a day, Speaker Amir Hussain, allowed Saleem Jan Mazari to speak on a point of order, with nobody having the faintest idea that this member, with feudal background, was about to open a Pandora's Box. "Immorality cannot be permitted in the name of combating Karo Kari...The sanctity in the house cannot be surrendered", he said.
That set off a sonorous protest from both sides of the aisle. Expressing his deep anguish Aitzaz Ahsan warned what message would go out of this house. It is not the men's world alone; his statement applauded by the women members on the treasury benches. Kashmala Tariq, a mover of the calling attention notice, thinking the Speaker was amused at the rumpus he allowed to brew, was blunt: "Mr. Speaker, it is something to cry but you are laughing".
Mehnaz Rafi was very upset: "The one who said Karo Kari was alright is himself a man without honour". The MQM members walked out en-bloc protesting the remarks by Mazari.
Anyone who thought bringing laws against honour killing is easy enough must have got the shock of his life. There was instant support to Saleem Jan Mazari. Not only the MMA members observed studious silence throughout the pandemonium, but also there were members on the treasury benches who stood up in support of Mazari. Sardar Tufail exchanged hot words with Kashmala Tariq and Mehnaz Rafi.
Brigadier Zulfiqar Dhilon (Retd), branding the lady members "activist ladies", opined that no parliament can legislate against the national values, adding let there be a national debate on this issue.
The Senate met in the evening. Before taking up business on its private members' day the senators paid rich tributes to Maulana Muhammad Shirani, MNA from Balochistan, he escaped attempt on his life. But who tried to kill the Maulana? there was serious divergence of opinion between the government and the Opposition.
The government said it was the handiwork of terrorists but the Opposition members accused the 'agencies'. Meanwhile, the amended Pakistan Political Order, 2002, as passed by the National Assembly was transmitted to the Senate for debate and adoption.