Opposition unhappy at govt for not taking parliament into confidence over protests

PHOTO: AFP

The opposition was expecting that the government would take parliament into confidence over the security situation and protests that erupted after the Supreme Court acquitted Aasia Bibi of blasphemy charges on Wednesday.

However, the parliament session on Friday was adjourned after a member of the treasury bench pointed out that the quorum was not complete. This irked the opposition.

“The whole country is facing uncertainty and we were expecting that the government would brief the opposition,” said former prime minister and PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.

He was talking to the media after a meeting of opposition leaders in the chamber of Shehbaz Sharif, the opposition leader in the National Assembly.

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“This is probably the first time that the government pointed out the lack of quorum and had the session adjourned,” said Ashraf.

The former premier said that it is irresponsible for anyone to drag the army into this controversy. “We second the ISPR director general’s stance,” he said, adding that the army has nothing to do with the Supreme Court’s verdict.

Earlier in the day, ISPR DG Major General Asif Ghafoor said that Aasia Bibi’s case has been in court for the past 10 years and all the decisions made in it have been made by the court. The army has nothing to do with this case and to speak against the army in relation to this case isn’t right, he said.

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Former prime minister and PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that if this how the government wishes to run the house, then congratulations to everyone one on ‘Naya Pakistan’.

During the PML-N regime, the house was in the session even when the PTI and PAT were camped outside parliament, said PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal.