The proceedings in the Senate on Thursday evening were by and large a laid-back affair, made more so by the House consensus that question hour should be treated as the done thing and debate on foreign policy should begin.
Given that quite a few senators, including the Leader of the House Wasim Sajjad, are advocates and spend their mornings in courts it was obviously too hectic for them to be up again for the Senate sittings in early afternoon.
That probably convinced Chairman Soomro to convene the sitting late, but even then the House met half an hour behind schedule, reinforcing one's conviction that what we have in terms of legislatures is merely ritualistic and the so-called 'real' democracy is nothing but a charade.
However, debate on foreign policy could not begin immediately as the opposition pressed the Chair to take up a few adjournment motions, particularly the one by Shahid Bugti who has been put on the exit control list (ECL). Interior Minister Sherpao was pressed for time and had to leave yet he agreed to hear the member with a promise to present the government position on Friday.
To be on the ECL was routine, Shahid said but what really surprised him was that action against him was taken by the military authorities, and not the Interior ministry- and of the 11 put on the ECL three were purda-observing ladies of Nawab Akbar Bugti family.
"While I am in Islamabad a car and a motorcycle are always at my tail...We have no green cards, and no other place to go to". Ishaq Dar then joined him, protesting that his party MNA Saad Rafique is being subjected to physical torture in the various police stations he is shifted every second day.
"Like football he (Saad Rafique) is being thrown from one police station to another. He is being physically beaten", said Raza Rabbani, and led the combined opposition out of the House on a token walkout.
It fell to the lot of Raza Rabbani to open the debate on the foreign policy, although the first mover for the debate was Wasim Sajjad. Rabbani said the CTBT, standing for Capitulation, Turnaround and Back-Tracking, aptly sums up the foreign policy of the present government. On Afghanistan, the failure of our foreign policy is so complete that the neighbour that was considered as our strategic depth has become "strategic threat".
On Kashmir, the "admissions and submissions at the highest level" have reduced this issue to mere "cross-border terrorism", as the UN resolutions have been abdicated. A series of non-consequential CBMs have taken the place of vitally important positions of Pakistan.
On Iran, he said there are serious apprehensions, as one sees more cantonments coming up in Balochistan. He also hinted at the contradiction in the statements made by the foreign minister and foreign office spokesperson. Foreign policy of the government is aimed at making subservient its national security interest in the name of "fighting terrorism".
The House resumed sitting after the Maghrib prayers with Jan Muhammad Jamali in the Chair. By then the attendance had further thinned; in fact, when he took the Chair not a single member from the government side was present. The mike was then passed on to PPPP's Latif Khosa. His perspective was that various military regimes landed Pakistan in serious troubles.
Yahya's era led to fall of East Pakistan when 90,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered to the invading Indians without firing a shot. But Zulfikar Ali Bhutto had the vision to revive the glory of Muslims and he wanted that Pakistan should become an atomic power.
Bhutto pursued an independent foreign policy but a General, who helped in dismemberment of Soviet Union, removed him. The war in Afghanistan gave us nothing but heroin and Klashnikov culture, said Khosa, adding after the General both civilian prime ministers were not allowed to follow independent foreign policy.
Once again a General is at the helm, which is pushing Pakistan into the lap of the United States. Is it the foreign policy of a sovereign country that US ambassador refused to come to the foreign office? the member asked. He said war against terrorism is in fact war against humanity in general and the Muslim Ummah in particular, adding military operation against Iran would be through Pakistan.
Despite these very strong expressions the foreign policy debate took the back seat as corridors hummed with various interpretations of General Musharraf's latest remark that the present assemblies would elect the next president. Will Pervez Musharraf resign before seeking re-election, was the question that more than one person asked.
A minority view was that he would seek re-election while keeping the same post and once elected he would take the oath of office once again. There was however almost consensus that the present assemblies would undertake the onerous responsibility of re-electing Pervez Musharraf.
But it remains mystery as to why only a few days back the official view was different, as some ministers held the opinion that presidential election would take place in 2008.
The debate on foreign policy will be wrapped up on Friday and then the Sensate would be prorogued.