ISLAMABAD: JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman said on Friday that the unanimous resolution adopted by parliament on Thursday setting new terms of engagement with the United States did not allow Nato supplies of any kind to pass through Pakistan.
Addressing a news conference at his residence here, he said: “All types of air and land supplies will remain suspended as a proposal in the first draft that any resumption of supplies will be subject to renewed accord has been removed from the final draft passed as resolution.
From now on any accord or MoU will be signed under section 8 of the resolution and, therefore, the government cannot reopen Nato supplies through an executive order.”
The section 8 of the resolution has four sub-sections: i) All agreements/MoUs, including military cooperation and logistics, will be circulated to the foreign ministry and all concerned ministries, attached or affiliated organisations and departments for their views; ii) All agreements/MoUs will be vetted by the ministry of law justice and parliamentary affairs; iii) All agreements/MoUs will be circulated to the PCNS (Parliamentary Committee on National Security) which shall vet and make recommendations in consultation with the stakeholders and forward these to the federal cabinet for approval under rules of business of the federal government; and iv) The minister concerned will make a policy statement on the agreements/MoUs in both the houses of parliament.
“We want to make it very clear that we will not allow the government to restore Nato supplies; we will resist and stop such a move and the government will be responsible for any law and order situation,” Maulana Fazl said.
He said that earlier recommendations presented in a joint session of parliament on March 20 included a section that new terms would be set before the resumption of Nato supplies, but parliament had removed it in the final resolution.
Answering a question, he said that although he was not in the Difa-i-Pakistan Council, he supported its opposition to resumption of Nato supplies. He said he had also informed Hafiz Saeed about his efforts to force the government into accepting his proposals.
The PCNS recommendations and the parliament’s resolution, he said, had closed all doors for the government to restore Nato supplies through an executive order.
Maulana Fazl urged PCNS chairman Senator Raza Rabbani to inform the people about the real contents of the resolution. He said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani should stand by his word and implement the parliament’s resolution in letter and spirit.
About the deadlock on a women harassment bill, he said he thanked women legislators for agreeing to come up with a consensus bill in consultation with other stakeholders and on the basis of the Holy Quran and Sunnah.
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