ISLAMABAD: Opposition parties have agreed to boycott the national security committee’s scheduled in-camera briefing on December 6, citing the government’s “dictatorial” behavior as the cause.
According to a press release from Parliament’s united Opposition, parties in the anti-government alliance have always taken matters affecting the Constitution, legislation, national security, and the general public seriously and placed a high value on them.
Despite the absence of the prime minister, the Opposition parties and their leaders not only attended briefings on these concerns but also gave recommendations to resolve the difficulties, according to the media release.
The government’s totalitarian stance and recent move to bulldoze critical bills through Parliament caused the Opposition to boycott the in-camera briefing session, according to the statement.
With its recent measures, the government has turned Parliament into a rubber-stamp institution, according to the press release.
The opposition accused the government of failing to raise important issues concerning external and internal threats, as well as those affecting the common man while claiming that such in-camera briefings were addressing critical issues.
“In reality, it is the government that has practically boycotted Parliament, which is a Constitutional and legal forum for the public,” the Opposition stated in a statement.
The opposition claimed that the prime minister had failed to attend Parliamentary briefings and sessions, citing a session on occupied Kashmir as an example. The statement went on to say that it demonstrates how the prime minister does not believe in the democratic spirit of consultation or the importance of tolerating opposing viewpoints.
It stated that, in such circumstances, attending the in-camera briefing session would aid the government in staging another drama unrelated to the critical issues confronting the country.
The Opposition said it believes National Security Advisor Moeed Yusuf is bereft of the appropriate authority that his office entails, and that he is merely a “showpiece.”
PML-N, PPP, JUI-F, PK-MAP, JI, ANP, BNP-Mengal, Qaumi Watan, NP, and Mohsin Dawar are among the opposition parties.
The National Security Committee of the House of Commons meets on December 6th.
Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser had called a meeting of the national security committee for December 6 to examine crucial national security matters.
NSA Moeed Yusuf will give a briefing on national security and other matters to MPs during the meeting.
The National Assembly Secretariat sent invitations to leaders of all parliamentary parties in both Houses of the Senate, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, opposition leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, opposition leader in the Senate Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, Leader of the House in the Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem, Maulana Asad Mehmood of the JUI-F, Chaudhry Tariq Bashir Cheema of PML-Q, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui of the MQM-Pakistan, Khalid Magsi of BAP, Ghuos Buksh Mehar from GDA, Amir Haider Khan of the ANP, Sheikh Rasheed of Awami Muslim League, BNP chief Akhtar Mengal, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti of JWP, parliamentary leader of the PPP in Senate Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Azam Tarar of PML-N and senators Anwarul Haq Kakar, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor, Faisal Ali Sabzwari, Tahir Bizanjo, Hidayatullah Khan, Shafiq Tareen, Kamil Ali Agha, Mushtaq Ahmed, Muzafar Hussain, Muhammad Qasim and Dilawar Khan.
As special invitees, the CMs of all provinces, the President and Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the CM of Gilgit-Baltistan were all invited to the conference.
Defense Minister Pervez Khattak, Shafqat Mehmood, Ali Amin Gandapur, Asad Umar, Syed Fakhar Imam, Hammad Azhar, Dr Shireen Mazari, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin, and Secretaries of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Interior, Defense, Finance, Kashmir Affairs, and Gilgit Baltistan, as well as secretaries of the
On November 8, the parliamentary leaders were briefed on the government-TTP talks during the most recent PCNS meeting.
