A stand-off between the treasury and opposition members of Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) over recommendations in relation to Nato supply route and new terms of engagements with United States (US) continued on Saturday, it is learnt.
According to sources, opposition members, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, are strongly opposed to the restoration of Nato supply route. The sources further revealed that Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has replaced Babar Awan with Qamar Zaman Kaira as member of the Committee. Kaira participated in Saturday's meeting.
This perhaps confirmed reports that the President was unhappy with the former Law Minister because he had refused to testify or provide an affidavit and even asked the recently removed Law Secretary Pir Masood Chishti not to do so either in prime minister's contempt of court case.
PCNS Chairman Senator Mian Raza Rabbani said the replacement of Babar Awan with Qamar Zaman Kaira was the party's decision. In this regard, he added, the Committee received notification and it was bound to implement it. The informal in-camera session of the PCNS was held under the chairmanship of Senator Raza Rabbani on Saturday to fine tune the PCNS proposals with the objective of evolving a parliamentary consensus over the foreign policy review.
The Committee has already agreed that clauses pertaining to mechanisms of granting permission to foreign intelligence operatives and spies operating in the country under the guise of defence-related contractors would be deleted. Similarly, the clause relating to doling out air bases to a foreign country for operation against any neighbouring state would also be omitted from the list of proposals.
The sources in the committee revealed that it was the consensus view of the members that the parliament should draw the broader contours of the overall foreign policy of the country while the rest of the job should be left to the technical people. While talking to media after the Committee meeting, JUI-F Maulana Fazlur Rehman said his party would never support any decision that was aimed at reopening Nato supply even it remained alone in this stance. He said that a consensus had not yet been evolved to link the resumption of Nato supply with drone attacks.
"The decision to suspend Nato supply should be sustained. The JUI-F would not support a resolution which hopes to reopen Nato supply," Fazlur Rehman categorically stated. Pakistan Peoples Party Sherpao (PPP-S) Chief Aftab Ahmed khan Sherpao told Business Recorder that his party was not in favour of reopening Nato supply. He said that the government did not take parliament into confidence when it decided to suspend Nato supply. Now, the government wants to use the parliament to reopen Nato supply, he said.
Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in his Friday's news conference had expressed reservations over some clauses of the proposed resolution on foreign policy. Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) while talking to media stated that the committee was trying its level best to develop censuses on the new terms of engagement with the US. "The debate on the recommendations is continuing with an open mind to finalise them," Rabbani said and added that the Committee would meet on a daily basis to finalize the recommendations as soon as possible.