The Senate session on Monday was quite short. The only fact, about this sitting, is the condolence Resolution introduced by Leader of the House, Wasim Sajjad, in memory of Senator Sarwar Khan Kakar, as well as former Senators, Nabi Bukhsh Domki and Sudedar Mandokhel, all three belonged to Balochistan province.
The resolution included the name of Sahibzada Sultan Abdul Majeed, another former Senator Another mention made in the resolution was the name of Lieutenant General Mushtaq Beg, Army's Surgeon General, whose life was cut short in a suicide attack on his car, near the Mall Road, Rawalpindi, on Monday. His loss made the atmosphere in the legislative Chamber look sad and poignant.
The leader of the Opposition, Raza Rabbani, rose to put the matter in perspective by recalling the recurring pattern of these bloody suicide incidents. He said such attacks were happening with regularity in Rawalpindi garrison town, considered to be a most secure place because of its proximity to the GHQ, and also because soldiers stood guard near and around sensitive installations in the area.
In Rabbani's words: 'No one could understand the agony of such extremist attacks better than (the Pakistan People's Party) because 'our leader was assassinated at the Liaquat Bagh,' a few kilometres away from the scene of Monday's attack. A most skilful and pious surgeon was killed and eight more people perished in the attack. The suicide attack on the Surgeon General was talked on both sides. Senator Mushahid Hussain condemned the attack in the PML (Q) parliamentary meeting.
Senator Enver Beg of the PPP was heard praising the surgical skill of the late General Mushtaq Beg, in the Chamber of the Leader of the Opposition. Every lawmaker sitting there praised the physician and said he had saved many lives by sincerely pursuing his medical profession.
However, The PML-Q meeting, held in a committee room of the Parliament, became an important source of news (and comments), because here the secretary general Mushahid had brought a brief regarding the important role of opposition in legislatures.
It had dawned on the Senator that in running a government the Opposition also plays a crucial role. As he very aptly said, the Treasury side and the Opposition benches were two wheels running the governing chariot.
Better late than never for such a good sense to come to a political machine and Senator Mushahid should be commended for speaking such good sentiments. Only, this realisation should have been there in the last five years during which he was part of the government. It is not agreed in many quarters that in those years PML-Q, the ruling party did not adhere to rules of good governance, or allowed a mild debate about sharing loyalty to provisions enshrined in the Constitution.
Of all things, a National Assembly, which had been allowed to be kept alive, under Provisional Constitutional Order, had the temerity of upholding a deviation from Constitution that this very House had amended only a few years ago, in 2004.
Had they done so, the country would have been spared the call to return to the Constitution as it now being voiced. In this process, the Opposition takes a lead in holding the government accountable for its policies and actions, and "challenges" policies and suggests improvements. The Opposition also presents an alternative, and good policies for people's benefit.
What should one make of Mushahid Husain's statement? Should we understand that the would-be Opposition (PML-Q) is giving advance notice to the combined parties of PPPP, PML (N) and ANP, that it was quite capable of making sufficient noise in the National Assembly to block (a reasonable) agenda?